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Vincent Broolu, Day & Son, Lith- 
 
 DEPUTY-INSPECTORGENERAL ROBERT McCORMICK, R.N., F.R.C.S. 
 
 iBT,9g. 
 
 PRONTItriBCn TO VOL. I. 
 
YOYAGES OF DISCOYERY 
 
 IN TBB 
 
 ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC SEAS, 
 
 AND 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD: 
 
 BEING PERSONAL NARRATIVES OF ATTEMPTS TO REACH 
 
 THE NORTH AND SOUTH POLES; 
 
 AMD or AN 
 
 OPEN-BOAT EXPEDITION UP THE WELLINGTON CHANNEL IN SEARCH OF 
 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN 
 
 AND HER MAJESTY'S SHIPS "EREBUS" AND «'TERROR." 
 
 IN HER MAJESTY'S BOAT "FORLORN HOPE," 
 
 I'KDEB THE roUMAND OF TBB AVTHOB. 
 TO WUIcn ARE ADDED AN 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. APPENDIX, 
 
 pfrtrniit, jnnps, nnli numttonx HIlustrntionB. 
 
 BY 
 
 DEPUTY INSPECTOR-GENERAL R. M'CORMICK, R.N., F.R.C.S. 
 
 Chirf Medical Officer, Naturalist, and OeologiU to the Expeditiom. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 I ; 
 
 loiition : 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, AND RIVINGTON, 
 
 CROWN BUILDINUS, 1»H, FLEKT 8TBKET. 
 
 1884. 
 [j<!l riiiM» re!eived.'\ 
 
HCH 
 
 London: 
 
 printed by gii.dekt and rivinfjton, limitbli, 
 
 ST. jiihn's square. 
 
 G 
 
 v.l 
 
 ix^i'^ 
 
THE 
 
 FOLLOWING NARRATIVES OF VOVAOES 
 
 TO THa ANTARCTIC ANI; ARCTIC SEAS AND ROUND THE WORLIJ, 
 
 WITH THE RECORD OF AN EVENTFUL LIFE, 
 
 ARE, BY PERMISSION, 
 
 Sittfptttfiill)) DtHu.ittH 
 TO 
 
 VICE-ADMIRAL 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS ALFRED ERNEST ALBERT, 
 
 DUKE OF EDINBURGH, 
 
 K.O., K.T., K.P., G.CSI., AMD G.C.M.O., 
 
 AIDE-DE-CAMP TO THE QUEEN, 
 
 COMMANDING THE CHANNEL SQUADRON; 
 
 AND TO THE 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL NAVY. 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS'S GRACIOUS PERMISSION BEING RECEIVED 
 
 ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY 
 
 THE AUTHOR WAS AWARDED HIS FIRST PROMOTION IN THE NAVY BY 
 
 HIS LATE MAJESTY KING WILLIAM THE FOURTH, 
 
 WHEN DUKE OF CLARENCE AND LORD HIGH ADMIRAL, 
 
 ON IHE RETURN OF CAPTAIN PARRY'S EXPEDITION FROM THE ATTEMPT TO 
 
 REACH THE NORTH POLK IN THE YEAR 1827, 
 
 RECALLS TO MEMORY A DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO THE ROYAL FAMILY, 
 
 WHICH HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS HAS GREATLY ENHANCED 
 
 BY CONDESCENDING TO ACCEPT THE 
 
 DEDICATION OF THESE VOLUMES BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS'S 
 
 GRATEFUL AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR, 
 
 yiiiiior United Sin'ici' Club, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Having had the good fortune to be engaged in three of 
 the most memorable expeditions of the present century 
 — with Parry, in his attempt to reach the North Pole, in 
 the year 1827; with Ross, in his Antarctic voyage during 
 the years 1839-43 ; and having had command of a boat 
 expedition in search of Franklin in 1852-3 — affording me 
 such ample opportunities for adding to our knowledge of 
 these regions, both Arctic and Antarctic, I have ventured 
 to bring before the public my own experiences, and I do 
 so more especially at the present time, because there has 
 been a renewal of interest in favour of Polar research and 
 discovery since the return of the late spirited private 
 expeditions sent out from this country, the Continent, 
 and America. 
 
 Devoted as I have been from my earliest years to Polar 
 discovery, in both north and south, my main object in the 
 following pages (condensed from voluminous diaries I had 
 been in the habit of keeping from my first entering the 
 navy, with numerous illustrations, all from my own pencil 
 sketches taken on the spot) is to be useful to future 
 explorers, who may be destined to follow me into these 
 little known but highly interesting regions of our globe, 
 
VI 
 
 Preface. 
 
 for which purpose I have given plans for reaching both 
 I^oles, North and South, as a conclusion to the Antarctic 
 and Arctic voyages, at the end of the first volume. I 
 have also introduced five panoramas of the coast-line of 
 the new glaciated southern continent we had the good 
 fortune to discover in our first voyage south, drawn on a 
 large scale, with the Great Barrier and remarkable bergs, 
 so as to give full effect to the appearance of this wonder- 
 ful land, and which, I trust, will be found novel and 
 striking features in the book. Nor am I without hope 
 that the many incidents and adventures met with in the 
 course of an eventful life, together with the popular way 
 in which I have introduced and described the more 
 scientific observations throughout the work in summaries, 
 may amuse and interest the general reader. If I may 
 judge from the deep interest I have always taken in 
 the perusal of voyages and travels, I think I may fairly 
 assume that such a work as the present one — which, by 
 the gracious permission of his Royal Highness, I have 
 dedicated to the Duke of Edinburgh, and the officers of 
 the Royal Navy— may be useful to my younger brother- 
 officers by calling their attention to the many opportunities 
 and wide field of observation which the naval service 
 offers in the pursuits of natural history, geology, geo- 
 graphy, and the collateral sciences, such a book I should 
 myself have considered a great boon as a work of 
 reference on my first entrance into the navy. 
 
 Although late in life for commencing such an under- 
 taking, the whole of these pages have gone through my 
 own hands, and have been carefully revised by myself 
 before the proof-sheets went to the press. In the same 
 
Preface. 
 
 VII 
 
 way I have seen my pencil sketches and maps trans- 
 ferred to the stone under my own supervision, and the 
 cover engraved from my own design. 
 
 Having taicen a very prominent part in the search for 
 Franklin, I have felt it due to myself, considering the 
 anomalous position I was then placed in, to reprint the 
 whole of the Admiralty correspondence, and the testi- 
 monials in the Appendix, after the Boat Voyage, that 
 my share in the search might not be left open to miscon- 
 struction. The departure from a strictly chronological 
 arrangement of those voyages arises from my having 
 decided to give precedence to the Antarctic voyage, as 
 being of fresher interest to the general reader than the 
 narratives of the Arctic voyages, and placing my Auto- 
 biography, being of subordinate interest, last instead 
 of first, the latter embracing my general services in the 
 navy, together with my pedestrian tours through England 
 and Wales, so as to maintain an unbroken chain throughout 
 an eventful life,— thus dividing the whole work into four 
 parts. The first volume embraces the voyages towards 
 the two Poles, and ends by my plans for reaching both 
 Poles. The Franklin Search commences the second 
 volume. 
 
 Before I bring this preface to a close I desire to return 
 my best thanks to the Lords of the Treasury for their 
 considerate kindness in permitting me to have the free 
 use of the blocks which bed been employed in illus- 
 trating my Boat Voyage for the Blue Books in the Par- 
 liamentary returns of the Franklin Search ; also to 
 Messrs. Pigott and Reid, of her Majesty's Stationery 
 Office, to whom I am deeply indebted for the trouble 
 
vni 
 
 Preface. 
 
 they took upon themselves in searching for the blocks, 
 and forwarding them to my publishers, through the 
 kind and friendly intercession of my esteemed friend 
 John Barrow, Esq. To the latter, and to Professor Owen, 
 of the South Kensington Museum of Natural History, I 
 owe my best thanks for their friendly encouragement 
 during my labours in seeing my work through the press. 
 And whilst writing this, the announcement of the pro- 
 motion of Professor Owen to be a Knight Commander of 
 the Bath, in reward for his long, laborious, and dis- 
 tinguished services to science, is most gratifying to me, 
 now that, after a long friendship of nearly half a 
 century with which he has honoured me, I have at last 
 the pleasure of congratulating him as Sir Richard 
 Owen, K.C.B., F.R.S. 
 
 To Messrs. Carruthers and Sharp, keepers of the 
 botanical and ornithological departments of the Museum, 
 I am also much indebted for their kindness in permit- 
 ting their artists — Messrs. Wilson and Morgan — to make 
 drawings of my Tartary oak and Tasmanian fossils, &c., 
 the fossil willow, I learn, whilst these pages are passing 
 through the press, has been named after me by the 
 German Professor Von Ettingshausen, and for this com- 
 pliment I here take the opportunity to return the Pro- 
 fessor my best thanks. The Esquimaux dogs, the three 
 penguins, the two lestrises, young and egg, with my 
 remarkable duck, also drawn on the stone at the 
 Museum by the first-named artist, will add a pleasing 
 variety to the number of landscape illustrations in the 
 two volumes, and are the only illustrations not sketched 
 by myself. 
 
Pt eface. tx 
 
 To Messrs. Vincent Brooks, Day and Son, I am indebted 
 for the excellent way in which they have produced the 
 numerous lithographs from my sketches which have been 
 entrusted to them ; and also for the three portraits 
 enlarged from a Daguerreotype and two miniatures. 
 
 The engravings on wood, forming the heads and vig- 
 nettes of the chapters, have been executed by Mr. J. D. 
 Cooper with his accustomed skill and care, from sketches 
 of my own. 
 
 To my publishers I return my best thanks, not only for 
 the kind way in which they have met my wishes in carry- 
 ing out the plan of my work, but for many valuable 
 suggestions. Also to Mr. Gordon G. Flaws, a literary 
 gentleman, to whom, as reader, I am greatly indebted 
 for the Index and valuable suggestions in my labours. 
 Lastly, I have to thank Mr. J. Thompson, the manager 
 of Messrs. Gilbert and Rivington, for the kind interest 
 he has taken in forwarding the sheets through the press. 
 I will add, finally, that this work, which comprises 
 in itself three of the most memorable voyages of this 
 century, may save the reader the trouble of having 
 to refer to each in separate books ; and should these two 
 volumes meet with the approval of the public, I shall not 
 regret the labour I have experienced in launching my 
 " two-decker" on the ocean of literature. 
 
 R. Mccormick. 
 
 Hecla Villa, Wimbledon, 
 January ist, 1884. 
 
=BS 
 
CONTJl NTS. 
 
 |3ait J. 
 
 VOYAGE OF H.M.S. "EREBUS" AND "TERROR" TO THE 
 ANTARCTIC SEAS. 
 
 CHAP IE R I. 
 Dqurture from England -At Madcira-Ascont of Pico Ruivo 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 Visit to the con vents - 
 
 -<^^l>servati<)ns round the roast - At Santa 
 (ruz -A Nelson recollection- Porta Praya -The i,a..l,ah- 
 iree revisUed-St. Don.ingo- An interior- -Si. Paul's Rods 
 -A perilous adventure- Booby birds at hon.e-Uatlle with 
 crabs— Geology of St. Paul's Rocks .... 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 Trinidad-IJotanical and geological features of the Nine-pin Rock 
 -Our Christmas dinner at the Equator- Letting in the 
 yc'ar,84o-St. Helena-Its scenery-i Visit to Lon'gJoocl^ 
 rsapoleonsapartments— His tomb -Ladder Hill 
 
 CHAPIER IV. 
 
 A deep sounding-.Africa sigi.ted-In Simon's Bay-Excursion 
 to Cape 1 own-I-armer I>eck- His .jueer hostelry-A Dutch 
 wine-grower and his wines-Ascent of Table Mountain- 
 Alanons Island — Possession Island . 
 
 lAi.i; 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 23 
 
 35 
 
xu 
 
 Contents. 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 VMiV. 
 
 At Kcrguelen's Island — My find of fossil wood— Remarkable 
 geological features — First boat's expedition for exploring 
 Cumberland Hay — Camping ashore— The Southern Cross— 
 Exploration under difficulties ...... 49 
 
 CHAITER VI. 
 
 Second boat-expedition —Arched Rock — Penguin Cove — Orni- 
 thological and botanical specimens— Our bird-soups — A 
 large cabkige — (Ire^'son Hiy discovered— A hard day's work 
 — Clinkstone Hill— A langevous adventure in search of teal 
 for our larder —A temj)cstuoiis night ... . -65 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 New Ray discovered —Club-moss Ray — Seals for supper — Find 
 a coal-seam — A wet bed in a wintry night on the rocks ^ 
 Provisions exhausted — Return to the Knbiis — Packing the 
 fossil tree — Burrowing for " niglit petrels" — Farewell to the 
 island .......... 78 
 
 A. 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 Cieol()gi<:al Rcuiinc of Kerguelen's Island 
 
 90 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Our boatswain drowned — Sighting the South-west Cape — Severe 
 gales — Our sails blown into ribbons — Reach Tasmania — At 
 the theatre, Hobart Town — A comi)linientary dinner — An 
 invitation from Sir John Franklin, governor of the island— 
 The first house built in the colony— Richmond — A kangaroo 
 hunt — .\ horse-race — Going to Government House ball 
 under difficulties 
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A drive across the island to Launceston — Over Jordan and through 
 Jericho — The Vale of Jerusalem — Campbell 'lown — Epping 
 Forest — Ornithological specimens — Excursion down the 
 Tamar to George Town — Return on horseback —Convicts on 
 a sheep flirm ~.\ fossil tree ...... 
 
 109 
 
Contents. 
 
 XIU 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Kxcursion to I'ort Arthur — Inspection of convicts — Dog sentinels 
 
 — I'lie tcssclatcd pavement — Tlie coal-mines — Bick at Hobart 
 Town— A funeral procession of boats— Coinplinientary l)all— 
 Laying the foundation-stone of the new Government House 
 
 — {"areweil to Tasmania ....... 
 
 122 
 
 CHAITKR XII. 
 
 First voyage towards the South Pole — Auckland Islands — 
 Knderby Island — Excursion up an almost impervicins ravine 
 — IJotanical features — Ewing Island--.S<i«(ly liay — Albatross 
 eggs— Ornithology of the islands — Departure . . .129 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 (■ampl)ell Island - Both ships aground- -Albatross and lestris 
 shooting — An albatross wooing — A dull Christmas Day — Our 
 first iceberg— Ocean birds — Bagging specunens while under 
 full sail— Sunrise at midnight — In the ice-pack — Our 
 T\velftIi-cake--Man overboard ...... 
 
 139 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Discovery of a southern continent — My first view — Take 
 sketches — We land on Possession Island — Penguins by the 
 million — We hoist the British flag — Return to the ships — 
 \ magnificent scene — High peaks — Mounts Sabine and 
 Herschell — Within 500 miles of the Magnetic Pole — Mount 
 Melbourne — Franklin Island, ivc. ..... 
 
 '50 
 
 CII.M'IKR XV. 
 
 Tlio volcanic mountains "Erebus' and "{'error'' -Creat barrier of 
 ice -The Barrier Bight — \ fascinating scene — Twenty-four 
 hours on deck — Seals and whales —F.xploration of McMurdo 
 Bay 164 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Remarkable rock, like a Roman gateway— Singular black dyke on 
 mountain summit —Off Possession Island — Cape McCormick 
 — Balleny's Island — Frozen fresh meat — The aurora australis 
 — On the return track— Sighting Bruin light 
 
 '77 
 
XIV 
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Summary of our attempt 1o reach the South Pole — Physical 
 features of the Antarctic continent — Climate — Geoloyy — 
 General sketch of changes in the earth's surface . 
 
 i8i 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Quail-shooting at Risdon — Lindisferne limestone fossils— I-evees 
 — The Erebus and Terror ball — Visiting — The bushranger 
 defeated . , . iy6 
 
 CHAP IE R XIX. 
 
 Leave for Sydney — Visits — Trip to Paramatta — New Zealand — 
 Description — Visit to the chief Pomartf — His farm 
 
 20S 
 
 CHAPl'KR XX. 
 
 Trip to Waimate— The missionary settlement — Ascent of the 
 mountain —Descend the crater— The sulphur springs - 
 Pomarc^ visits the ships . . . . . . .223 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Up the Kava-Kava River — Excursions — The Kiddi-Kiddi River 
 and Falls — Public discussion between Protestant and Roman 
 Catholic missionaries ....... 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Trip inland, and my night out in the woods— Shooting birds — 
 Sail from the Bav if Islands after three months' stay . 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Second attempt to reach the South Pole — In the ice-pack — Our 
 Christmas ^are — Large penguins — A ballroom cut in the ice — 
 Our Anta' -tic hotel— A white petrel falls a victim to the New 
 Year 
 
 232 
 
 241 
 
 247 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV, 
 
 Closely beset in the pack — Episode of the dying petrel— .\nimal 
 
 instinct — Twelfth-night — The Christmas Berg . . , 256 
 
 lJ 
 
Contents. 
 
 XV 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 r.\(;K 
 
 A heavy gale — Waves of solid ice —Seals, wlialcs, and penguins — 
 Kight hundred miles of the pack passed through — In the 
 open again — Shot a lestris — A beautiful view of the great 
 ice barrier — Highest latitude reached ..... 262 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Collision with the 7Jr/w off the icebergs— Our perilous situation — 
 Our ship all but crippled — Captain Ross's self-possession — 
 Doubling Cape Horn — Loss of a sailor — Land in sight — 
 Hog Island ......... 
 
 274 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The Falkland Islands — Promotion to all except the medical 
 officers — !^ shooting excursion — Natural history of the 
 islands — The place described — Bullock-hunting — Black- 
 necked swan ........ 283 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Trip to Swan Bay — Description of the camp — Streams of stones 
 — Bird-shooting — Departure . . .... 
 
 29s 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Hermite Island, Cape Horn — Tierra del Fuego — The natives and 
 their wigwams — My solitary exploration of the island — Ascent 
 of Forster's Peak . 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Excursion up to the summit of Cape Spencer — Bird-shooting— 
 Difficulty with a native as to plunder — My diplomatic 
 manoeuvres — We leave the island 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 Summary of Hermite Island — Geology— Ornithology — Botany. 
 
 323 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Sccuiid visit to the Falkland Islands — Berkeley Sound— Search for 
 spct ime'.is — Birds and eggs- -Summary .... 
 
 3^7 
 
i 
 
 XVI 
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Third attempt to reach tlic South Pole - Our farmyard of 
 live-stock — Our Christmas dinner-party — Iccl)ergs — Louis 
 I'iiilipi)e Island— Taking possession of the Pyramidal Island 
 — Thirty-eight days in the pack 33: 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Our highest latitude 71° 30', and longitude 14'= 51' 10" — We 
 complete the circumnavigation of the globe and cross the 
 circle — Deep-sea soundings — By avoiding Weddell's track 
 we fail to reacli iiis latitude — Birds —The comet of 1843 
 
 CHAP PER XXXV. 
 
 Summary of the last voyage south -.\struiiomical observations — 
 The vast barrier of ice and the continent bevond 
 
 344 
 
 351 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Simon's Bay — Excursion to Cape Point — Stellenbosch — St. Helena 
 
 — Ascend Ladder Hill — Fairyland 360 
 
 CHAPTER XXX VH. 
 
 Ascension Island— Up the Green Mountain — Rio de Janeiro — 
 
 Corvo— Scilly Islands — Woolwich— The expedition paid off 367 
 
 |3art \l. 
 
 ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE IN THE 
 
 YEAR 1827. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure from the Nore — Arrival at Hammerfest — Visit of the 
 " Belle of Lapland " and her party to the Ilccla - Ptarmigan- 
 shooting— Magpies held sacred— Departure— Crow's-nest got 
 up to fore-topgallant mast-head — First ice seen — Fall in with 
 whalers — Sight Spitzbergen — Cloven Cliff— Enter the jjack 
 in a gale — Red Beach — The attempt to start in the boats 
 from the pack — Verlegen Hook — Highest latitude reached — 
 Seven Islands 
 
 377 
 
 !' 
 
 ^i^ 
 
Contents. 
 
 xvii 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Hecla secured in Treurenbcrg B.iy— I land in Hecia Cove, and 
 shoot a reindeer— A walrus family circle— Cutting a canal 
 through the ice— Departure of polar boats— Commence my 
 duties in charge of a watch— Deer-shooiing excursion to 
 opi)osite shore-Shoot a polar be.^r- Ship driven ashore— 
 Flora of the islands . 
 
 rAc.a 
 
 398 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Return of the polar boats— Seal-shooting- Ptarmigan-shooting— 
 Under weigh from Hecla Cove— Land at Red 13each— Home- 
 ward-bound ... 
 
 409 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Riisumd of the geological and botanical featuresof the island —An 
 
 arctic cemetery— Why the expedition failed 
 
 415 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 List of reindeer shot in Treurenberg Bay, Spitzbergen, by the 
 
 officers and crew of H.M.S. Hecla in the year 1827 . .422 
 
 PLANS FOR REACHLNG THE NORTH AND SOUTH 
 POLES. BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Plan for reaching the North Pole 
 
 Plan for reaching the North Pole by the Spitzbergen Sea ". " V.\ 
 
 Plan for an attempt to reach the South Pole 7,^ 
 
 • • . 430 
 
 NOL. I. 
 
 ft 
 
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 tl. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. 
 
 Portrait of Autlior frjiitis/yucc 
 
 Ma]) of South I'olo ....... ru:\t Didkalioii 
 
 Summit of Pico Ruivo above the Cloiuls 
 
 Homan-em-pcc ..... 
 
 The Peak of Teyde .... 
 
 Baobab-tree, Porta Praya, Ca|)e Verde . . . to face 
 
 St. Paul's Rocks .... 
 
 Map of St. Paul's Rocks . 
 
 Nine-pin Rock, Trinidad 
 
 Fairyland, St. Helena ...... to face 
 
 Napoleon"s Tomb, St. Helena . 
 
 Cleft-summit of Table Mountain 
 
 Hligh's Cap 
 
 Basalt or Foysil-wood Mount 
 
 Top of Cumberland Bay, Kerguelen .... to face 
 
 Two bearings of Sentry-Box, entrance of Cumberland Bay . 
 
 Remarkable Phonolite Hill in North Bay, Cumberland Bay 
 
 (Ircgson Bay, Cumberland Bay, Kerguelen . . to face 
 
 Coal Seam, Duck Bay, Cumberland Bay ..... 
 
 Clul) Moss Bay, Cumberland Bay, Kerguelen . . to face 
 
 I'.xploring Boat off Christmas Harbour, Kerguelen . . „ 
 
 Boat Refuge, Cumberland Corner ...... 
 
 Arched Rock, Christmas Harbour 
 
 Cumberland Bay and Senlry-bo.v:, with Foul Bay between the 
 Arched Rock and Cumberland Point, as seen from Summit 
 of Crater Peak 
 
 Crater Peak, Christmas Harbour ...... 
 
 1 1 
 
 12 
 
 i6 
 
 i8 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 28 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 4S 
 
 49 
 56 
 64 
 
 65 
 70 
 
 78 
 80 
 82 
 89 
 90 
 
 y6 
 97 
 
 l-'ossil Tree, Macquarie Plains . . . .100 
 
 HI 
 
t 
 
 XX 
 
 List of Iilusli'alions and Maps. 
 
 ■(. II 
 
 Tcsselatcd Pavement, Eagle- Hawk Neck, Tasmania . 
 An almost impervious Ravine in Auckland Islands 
 Two Lcstrises, Younj,', and ICgg ..... 
 
 Panorama of Victoria Land 
 
 Peak of Mount Isrebus, 120 miles distant . 
 Panorama of Mounts Erebus and Terror . . 
 
 The Barrier Uight . 
 
 Remarkable rock, like a Roman gateway . 
 
 Remarkable black trap dyke, intersecting a lofty mountain 
 
 Mount Wellington, Tasmania 
 
 Risdon, Tasmania ....... 
 
 Lindisferne Fossil-leaves, Tasmania .... 
 
 Poma.e's Pah, Bay of Islands 
 
 Kiddi-Kiddi Falls, New Zealand .... 
 
 Three penguins 
 
 Terror off a Berg ....... 
 
 Great Antarctic Barrier 
 
 Cape Horn 
 
 Cape Spencer, Tierra del Fuego .... 
 
 St. Martin's ove, Tierra del Fuego .... 
 
 Louis Phil- jpe Land 
 
 Panorama of Antarctic Bergs ..... 
 Little Table Island, Spitzbergen, the northernmost land 
 Smeerenberg Harbour, Spit/bergen .... 
 Seven Islands ........ 
 
 Walden Island, Spitzbergen 
 
 Cloven Cliff, Spitzbergen 
 
 Hecla Cove, Sjjitzbergen ..... 
 Hills west side of Treurenbcrg Bay .... 
 Remarkable round hill, Treurenberg Bay, Spitzbergen 
 Red Beach, Spitzbergen 
 
 
 rA(iR 
 
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 122 
 
 
 I2<; 
 
 to/ace 
 
 142 
 
 • >» 
 
 'SO 
 
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 to face 
 
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 peak . 
 
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 to face 
 
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 to face 
 
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 II 
 
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 ffld of I 
 
 'oyage 
 
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 to face 
 
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 to face 
 
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 fact 
 
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 of Voyage 
 
 
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 face 
 
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 4'5 
 
 PART I. 
 VOYAGE 
 
 or 
 
 HER MAJESTY'S SHIPS 
 
 "EREBUS" AND "TERROR 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SOUTH POLAR SEAS, 
 
 UNDER THE COMMAND OP 
 
 CAPTAIN SIR JAMES CLARK ROSS, R.N., F.R.S., 
 
 DURING THE YEARS 1839-1843. 
 
 i 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 B 
 
. ! 
 
 
 
i"» 
 
 ^5 
 
 If 
 
 i W 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 Meriiliaii 
 lirct'invirli 
 
 20 V\«'sl 10 
 
 I-, I.; 
 
 W>st 
 
 170 East ico" 
 
 \V. & K.of C.iM'eimii'li 
 
 MAP OF SOUTH. POLE. 
 
 UEDICAriON VOL 1. 
 
 ^■^', 
 
Suiiiiiiit of I'ico Ruivo above the Clouds. {See p<ti^c 6.) 
 
 PERSONAL NARRATIVE 
 
 VOYAGE OF H.M.S. "EREBUS" AND "TERROR" 
 
 ANTARCTIC SEAS, 
 
 1^39-43 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure from England — At Madeira — Ascent of Pico Ruivo. 
 
 Thursday, Scptemhcf iglli, 1839. — At nine a.ni wc pro- 
 ceeded down the river to Gillini^hani Reach, and came 
 to an anchor, near the Terror^ oft the church. Here we 
 remained some days — to swing the ship's head round the 
 compass for the local attraction, and for the ship's com- 
 
 B 2 
 
 ITiiLw^^ioivLi"' 
 
 'I V 
 
■7^ 
 
 n 
 
 M 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 I i 
 
 I f 
 
 4 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 pany to receive their advance pay. On the afternoon 
 of the 25th we weighed, anchoring for the night off the 
 buoy of the Mouse, and on the following morning the 
 Hecate steamer towed us into Margate roads. Here we 
 were detained by westerly winds until the 30th, when we 
 got under weigh at seven p.m., and met with boisterous 
 weather down Channel, passing the splendid new light on 
 the Start, flashing brightly every minute on the lee-beam. 
 During a gale, accompanied by fog, we lost sight of our 
 consort the Ten'or, and did not see her again until after 
 our arrival at Madeira. 
 
 October 20th. — Between eight and||ine a.m. the De- 
 sertas were sighted on the port-quaifer, and the island 
 of Madeira itself ahead, having by no means so verdant 
 and fertile an aspect, when seen from the sea, as might 
 have been expected. 
 
 Monday, 21st. — I went on shore, accompanied by our 
 passenger. Lieutenant Eardley Wilmot, of the horse 
 artillery, and after a ramble through the place, visiting 
 the news-rooms and market-place, returned on board at 
 1.30 p.m. 
 
 Thursday^ i.\th. — The Terror arrived, and as soon as 
 she had anchored I went on board of her, and from 
 thence to the shore. After dining with Dr. Smith, a 
 resident in the island, we rode up the steep side of the 
 mountain above the town, as far as the church of "Our 
 Lady of the Mountain," forming a most conspicuous 
 object near its summit, as seen from the sea. It was a 
 charming evening, and the view of the shipping in the 
 roads, and the whole scene beneath us formed a magnifi- 
 cent panorama. On our return to the town we paid a visit 
 to Mr. Mulr, whose family showed us some remarkable 
 encrustations from Porta de Lorenco, and gave me an 
 invitation to join a party to-morrow for the ascent of 
 Pico Ruivo, on the north side of the island and its highest 
 mountain. We next repaired to the consul's, where we 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 i- . 
 
Asceni of Pico Rnivo. 
 
 5 
 
 met Captains Ross and Crozicr, joined them in a cup of 
 coffee, and returned on board, calling alongside of the 
 Terror on our way to the Erebus. 
 
 Friday^ 25///. — I left the ship at six a.m., and at 7.15 
 a party of six of us started for the ascent of Pico Ruivo. 
 The morning dawned very fine as we mounted the 
 horses ready for us, at Mr. Muir's store, with the cus- 
 tomary guides, the artillery-officer and the surgeon from 
 the Terror having also joined our party. Six miles from 
 Funchal was our first halting-place, at a venda called 
 " Camacho," where we got some coarse, dark bread, and 
 the ordinary wine of the country. Three miles farther on 
 we passed some cascades, having a view from this of 
 Porto Santo, Porta de Lorenco, and the Dcserlas. We 
 lunched on a bank commanding a fine view of the valley 
 beneath, and a steep rock overhanging the sea, at a place 
 called San Antonio-de-zaza Portello, sixteen miles from 
 Funchal. At 12.15 ^^^ reached Porta de Cruz, about a 
 mile on, by a pretty descent. Here we rested at a small 
 venda, with the usual fare of coarse bread and sour 
 wine, with spirits as fiery as the wine was sour. Whilst 
 our party were thus refreshing themselves, I availed my- 
 self of the brief interval to stroll down a winding path, 
 through the village, to an inlet of the sea, at the base of 
 a high rock, a quarter of a mile or so from the venda, 
 when, from taking a wrong turn on my way back, I was 
 very near missing my party altogether, who had started 
 from the venda before I got back. However, falling in 
 with one of the guides, I soon overtook the cavalcade. 
 At 2.30 p.m. we passed Fayal, and a river winding 
 through a deep valley, enclosed by rugged and lofty 
 mountains, presenting scenery of a very grand descrip- 
 tion. Our course next followed a very circuitous path, 
 steep and precipitous. Here a very remarkable rock in 
 the shape of a pillar riaQ^out of the sea perfectly isolated, 
 like a lighthouse, with a heavy surf breaking at its base. 
 
 I 
 
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) 
 
 i 
 
 f. il 
 
 i 
 
 6 Voyages of f){scovcry. 
 
 At 3.40 p.m. passed the Church of St. Anne's. I 
 alighted from my horse and walked round the interior. 
 Evidently no pains had been spared in ornamenting it in 
 the usual Portuguese fashion. From this, a winding lane 
 led us to the inn at St. Anne's, " Caza de Plaiz," which we 
 reached at four p.m., where we took up our quarters for the 
 night. It is kept by Setior Luiz, a Porluguese, who is 
 also a large vine-grower, and consequentlydoesnotdepend 
 on the inn for his livelihood, it being seldom frequented 
 excepting in the summer season. The summit of Pico 
 Ruivo forms a grand and striking object, the most 
 prominent feature in the landscape as seen from the 
 window of the room in which I slept. It was at the 
 time I saw it, 5.30 p.m., partially enveloped in clouds, 
 the mist now and then lifting and leaving the highest 
 peaks visible. We had a cool, cloudy day for our ride 
 of twenty-five miles. The evening cleared up bright and 
 starlight. The horse I rode was sure-footed, free, 
 and spirited, although twelve years old. Our course 
 lay through a variety of charming scenery — mountain, 
 glen, hill, and valley, diversified by woods. The road 
 in many places was so steep and rugged, being strewed 
 with fragments of rock, that we frequently had to dis- 
 mount and lead our jaded steeds ; at other times, wind- 
 ing through lanes with hedgerows of blackberry, whortle- 
 berry, broom, furze, and heaths, with the magnificent 
 hydrangea, of a bright azure-blue colour. The chest- 
 nut seemed to be the most generally diffused of the 
 native trees of the island — and of course the vine everv- 
 where. We passed a variety of fine waterfalls. Birds 
 were very scarce ; I only saw here and there a small 
 finch or warbler, with a swallow or two, and in the 
 garden of the inn was a blackbird. 
 
 We were quite ready for dinner on alighting at the inn ; 
 but no visitors being expected, our arrival evidently 
 caused bustle and stir amongst the household, preparing 
 
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 I H 
 
 ■: ( 
 
 l: \ 
 
1 
 
 r ride 
 
 It and 
 free, 
 
 course 
 
 intain, 
 road 
 re wed 
 
 o dis- 
 wind- 
 lortle- 
 ficent 
 chest- 
 f the 
 every- 
 Birds 
 small 
 n the 
 
 |e inn ; 
 
 Idently 
 ixiring 
 
 ■4 
 
 Homan-ein-pcc. 7 
 
 rooms and beds for our reeeption. The fowls were still 
 living that were destined for our repast, to which we did 
 not sit down to table till seven p.m. 
 
 Saturday, 26tli. — Arose at 2.30 a.m., and soon after- 
 wards we mounted our horses, rode down the carriage-road 
 to the gate, when, entering the main road, we followed a 
 winding lane to the right, which took us to the foot of 
 the mountain. The morning was very fine and starlight, 
 and being so early the scene was one of extraordinary 
 beauty, the atmosphere so pellucidly clear, that the 
 planet Venus appeared at least double its usual diameter, 
 shining at the same time with a brilliancy never seen in 
 our English clime. As we looked back, ocean and sky 
 seemed blended in one, having no visible tangible hori- 
 zon save where a bank of fleecy white clouds, reflecting 
 the rays of the sun — though that magnificent orb itself 
 was still below the horizon — had the appearance of a 
 wreath of snow crossed by red rays, like a bridge of 
 burnished gold. The air was keen and chilly, but most 
 invigorating. 
 
 The first part of the ascent is through a shrubby under- 
 wood ; the acclivity a broad, barren ridge strewed with 
 fragments of rock. On passing through a gate a singular 
 mass of rock presents itself, standing perfectly isolated, 
 and bearing ample evidence of having been the remnant 
 of an ancient greenstone dyke, which, from its hardness, 
 had hitherto resisted the atmospheric changes under 
 which the surrounding softer rocks had disappeared in the 
 denudation of the surface. It is called the " Homan-em- 
 pee," and is perhaps some twenty feet high. At about 
 six feet from the ground, a solitary bush or shrub grows 
 out of a crevice in the rock apparently without a particle 
 of soil for its roots to strike in or to sustain its life, beyond 
 the rain it receives from the clouds. I brought away 
 with me a specimen of the plant, a piece of the rock, in 
 which it seemed to thrive, and also a rough pencil sketch 
 
 h; 
 
 
 i 
 
 t 
 
 if' 
 
 I 
 
r^^ 
 
 1 n 
 
 y V' 
 
 8 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 of it. At six a.m. we rode along the edge of a steep 
 precipice, overhanging a deep valley, from the bottom of 
 which craggy masses of rock rise in the wildest confusion, 
 some bare and sterile, others jutting out from trees and 
 shrubs, embosomed in green foliage. This spot is the 
 wildest and grandest piece of scenery we met with through- 
 out our whole excursion. It is said to bear a striking 
 resemblance to the " coral," only on a far more magnifi- 
 cent and imposing scale, and is called the " Torrihas." 
 It is not far from the " Homan-em-pee." Soon after 
 passing it, at 6.45 am., we alighted from our horses, and, 
 leaving them in charge of the guides, we completed the 
 remainder of the ascent on foot. 
 
 The track now became a winding one through tree- 
 heath, with which the acclivity at its upper part is clothed ; 
 numbers of them dead and withered, some with their 
 trunks and branches barked and blanched white, many of 
 them trees of considerable size. Near the summit, wind- 
 ing amongst these withered forms of vegetation, the track 
 suddenly divides, one branching to the left, and the other 
 to the right, rendering it doubtful which of them was the 
 nearest way to the top, and led to the highest peak. The 
 young merchant, Mr. Muir, our guide, with myself, being 
 the foremost of the party, we agreed to separate, he 
 taking the left, and I the right, which proved to be the 
 right one for me, for after proceeding a few paces, I found 
 myself standing alone on the highest point of the peak, 
 so that I was the first of our party who set foot on the 
 summit, at 7.20 a.m. I had not long to wait before my 
 companion's head emerged from the bushes on the oppo- 
 site side ; and before long the remainder of our party 
 assembled on the summit, which we soon found by our 
 barometrical measurement to be 61 76 feet above the level 
 of the sea. Saw a sheep or two, with lambs white as 
 snow, feeding on the acclivity, where there is abundant 
 vegetation, chiefly of tree-heath, with masses of rock 
 
 ! ii 
 
 i 
 
 I- Li I. 
 
I 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 'S 
 
 11 
 
 Breakfast. 9 
 
 scattered about. The hi^^licst part of the peak is green- 
 stone, having only a few straggling bushes of the tree- 
 heath, very much stunted in growth, of which I collected 
 a few specimens, and also of the greenstone. The 
 solitary note of a small bird alone broke the silence of the 
 scene even at this elevation. A passing mountain mist 
 soon obscured all distant objects from view, and wc had 
 only one glance of the sea through a temporary opening 
 in the mist. At 9.20 a.m. we commenced our descent, 
 the broom forming the second zone of vegetation below 
 the heaths ; next came a belt of ferns. At 9.45 a.m. we 
 reached the spot where we had left our horses, when, seat- 
 ing ourselves amidst the rocks, fragments, ferns, and 
 brooms, we breakfasted with keen appetites on cold fowl 
 and ham, bread-biscuit, coffee, and porter, which we 
 had brought with us in a basket, and black grapes, bought 
 on the way up. 
 
 At 10.15 '^•'^' ^^G remounted our steeds and continued 
 the descent, returning by another route to Funch.al. 
 Weather misty. We passed through a variety of beautiful 
 scenery, and close to a fme waterfall of 400 to 500 feet, 
 and across a bridge over the River Fayal. At one 
 minute we were rounding the steep and sharp angle of a 
 descent, and the next up an abrupt and rugged ridge. As 
 we proceeded our road again changed, and we rode along 
 a path of soft soil, flanked on either side by shrubs and 
 wild flowers, amongst which flitted butterflies, grass- 
 hoppers, and locusts. At one p.m. we alighted at the 
 venda of "Cruzinha," to afford both guides and horses 
 some rest and refreshment, which as usual consisted of 
 small loaves of dark coarse bread and sour wine ; I found 
 the best thing the fresh cool water from the spring. These 
 vendas all very much resemble each other — mere rudely- 
 built stone huts, thatched, the bare ground forming the 
 floor, a small counter on it, a green bottle of spirits, a 
 tumbler, and a tin drinking-pot; behind it the cask of sour 
 
 \\\ 
 
 I 
 
 u 
 
 
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 i 
 
TT 
 
 T 
 
 ! ;i 
 
 : } 
 
 lO 
 
 Voyaocs of Discovery. 
 
 wine. The loaves of bread are arranged on a shelf in the 
 wall ; a bench between the counter and the door, serving 
 as a seat for visitors, completes the inventory of the venda. 
 At 1.30 p.m. we continued our journey, when some 
 drizzling rain began to fall, shrouding the surrounding 
 scenery in mist. At four p.m. a sudden turn in the 
 road gave us a glance of the sea and the shipping. The 
 evening cleared up fine ; and I saw a buzzard hovering 
 overhead. At 4.50 p.m. we alighted at the last venda, 
 " Camento da Meis," overlooking the bay. We descended 
 the hill by a paved road, having " Our Lady of the Moun- 
 tain "on the right. We reached Funchal at 5.30 p.m., 
 and got on board at six p.m. 
 
 The weather during our excursion proved most favour- 
 able; our horses, small as they W'ere, carried us ad- 
 mirably throughout a journey of certainly not less than 
 fifty miles in the two days, over the most rugged country, 
 which none but sure-footed animals accustomed to such 
 work could possibly have accomplished, yet they exist on 
 the m.ost scanty fare. Their owners, the guides, walked 
 the whole of the distance, and managed to keep up with 
 their horses in a most extraordinary manner, la) ing hold of 
 their tails, and urging them onwards by a peculiar shout . 
 They wore small blue cloth skull-caps, with a point 
 nearly a foot in length, tapering upwards from the crown. 
 The total expenses of our trip amounted to $64,515, or 
 1 4/. OS. 6d. 
 
 The following memorandum was deposited on the 
 summit of Pico Ruivo : — 
 
 "On Saturday, the 26th of October, 1839, a party of 
 officers from her Majesty's ships Ercbiis and Terror 
 ascended to this spot, in company with James Muir, Esq., 
 of Funchal, for the purpose of making barometrical ob- 
 servations. They left St. Anne's at 3.30 a.m., and 
 reached this station at seven, The lower ground was 
 hidden by the clouds, previous to which the morning was 
 
 .Jl 
 
Memorandum deposited on summit of Pico Ruivo. 1 1 
 
 cloiiclless. The barometer stood at a mean height of 
 24", thermometer 45° Fahrenheit, hygrometer D.F. 43°, 
 wind N. ; observations taken every ten minutes for one 
 and a half hours." 
 
 ]l()iiian-cni-pcc. {Sec f>iigc 8.) 
 
 \ 
 
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 f „1 
 
 m 
 
 
^w 
 
 [• 
 
 T 
 
 t 
 
 ^^"^^ 
 
 v^^^i*^- 
 
 '^^1^^ 
 
 ''*^!^^»«£*^ ^ •'•'•.n-"";?<«SBatt«**»-- *»«»*-, 
 
 \k 
 
 The Peak of Tcyde. (See page 14.) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Visit to the convents— Observations round the coast — At Santa Cruz — 
 A Nelson recollection — Porta Praya — The baobab-tree revisited — 
 St. Domingo — An interior— St. Paul's Rocks — A perilous adventure 
 — Booby birds at home — Battle with crabs — Geology of St. Paul's 
 rocks. 
 
 Sunday, 27///. — I breakfasted at the Muirs, and we went 
 to the pretty little English church, embosomed in shrubs 
 and flowers. After the service, as I was returning on 
 board, I met the surgeon of the Terror coming on shore, 
 and joined him in a ramble to the convents. We first 
 visited the " Incarnation," and purchased some feather- 
 flowers at the revolving circular box. We next pro- 
 ceeded to the " Santa Clara," and were shown into an 
 upper room, where we had a sight of three of the nuns, 
 from whoin we were separated by a large wire screen ; 
 they handed us the flowers through a n^volving box in it. 
 
 »tU'l; 
 
The Canancs. 
 
 13 
 
 first 
 her- 
 pro- 
 an 
 uns, 
 ;en ; 
 n it. 
 
 The nuns were dressed in blaek, with large black veils 
 bordered with white, terminating in a very narrow peak 
 user the forehead. The celebrated Maria Clementina is 
 slill an inmate of this convent ; but whether she was one 
 of the ladies whom we saw I know not, as they did not 
 speak a word of English. They were all tall, dark, 
 middle-aged women. We returned on board at three p.m., 
 when both Captains Ross and Crozier, with all the gun- 
 room officers of the Terrory dined on board with us. 
 
 Monday, 28///. — Captain Ross having given me a boat 
 for the purpose of examining the incrustation bed at 
 Porto Lorenco, I started at 7.30 a.m., accompanied by 
 the two artillery officers, two sons of Mr. Muir, and an 
 officer or two from the ships. As we rounded the eastern 
 point. Brazen Head, some wild pigeons and a hawk rose 
 from the rocks. Here a large dyke completely intersects 
 the cliff. We pulled along shore, passed Santa Cruz 
 cliffs, red, and remarkably twisted into concentric circles, 
 indicating that these rocks had undergone enormous 
 lateral pressure, and affording striking examples of anti- 
 clinal and other forms of stratification. Passed Machico, 
 and at i .45 p.m. we landed on a rock, bounding a small 
 sandy cove, about 100 paces in length, from which the 
 incrustation bed stretches across Point Lorenco. Two 
 large curlews rose from the point as we landed. What 
 is here termed the fossil-b'jd is nothing more than the 
 roots and stems of the plants growing here becoming 
 encrusted over with a calcareous deposit, from some 
 peculiarity in the sandy soil in which they grew, the 
 enclosed vegetable matter being in many instances charred 
 and black. 
 
 Thursday, ^ist. — Owing to the exposed anchorage for 
 the ships, and the threatening state of the weather, 
 Captain Ross, on returning on board, resolved upon at 
 once getting under weigh, notwithstanding he had invited 
 a party from the shore to dine with him. The Terror 
 
 ^:l 
 
 ' 4 
 
 I 
 
rT" 
 
 I 
 
 (^ ■] 
 
 i i 
 
 " i 
 
 ! : 
 
 •4 
 
 J^oyaocs of Discovery. 
 
 weighed at 12.30, and liove-to for us. At four p.m. a 
 stronj^ breeze brou<;ht us up with her, and wc shaped a 
 course for the Canary Islands. 
 
 Sunihxy, Nov. 3/v/. — I love-to off Santa Cruz in the 
 island of Teni'riffe, and a boat having been sent on shore 
 for some beef, I took a passage in her, landing at the 
 celebrated mole where Nelson lost an arm. We entered 
 the principal church, and saw the colours taken on that 
 sad mishap. They were placed very high up on the left 
 side of the church, and were in a very faded, not to say 
 dilapidated, condition. We met the consul on the pier, 
 accompanied him home, and afterwards to the governor's, 
 the Marquis de Concordia, and the commandant of marine, 
 to whom we were introduced, and met the wife and sister 
 of the latter, whose child was suffering from paralysis of 
 the lower extremities, about which they were very anxious 
 to have my advice. We returned on board with the 
 consul in the health-boat (Sanadad). This island has a 
 very barren aspect when seen from the sea, scorched-up, 
 scoriaceous hills, thickly clothed with the Euphorbia 
 Cnniansis, the most striking feature of the vegetation. 
 
 The Archipelago of the Canaries has been called the 
 Fortunate Isles, of which Santa Cruz in Teneriffe is the 
 capital. (Celebrated for cochineal and the Great Dragon- 
 tree, at Orotava Peak, sixty miles distant.) The Peak 
 of Teyde rises from the centre of the island in the form 
 of a cone 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
 This group of islands, from their geological formation 
 and natural productions, would appear to have been 
 once united to the continent of Africa. According 
 to Pliny and other ancient writers, they were supposed 
 to have been the remnant of the submerged Adantis, 
 a vast continent imagined to have been engulfed by 
 some great convulsion in the earth's crust, affecting the 
 bed of the Atlantic in bygone ages. Columbus was for 
 a time a resident of the Canaries, before his discovery 
 
 »jl 
 
.s/. 7".;'"- 
 
 »5 
 
 of the Now World. The wild canarii-s, the ancestors of 
 our pretty y('ll<)\v pets in I'Ji^land, arc here clothed in 
 olive-i,frctn plunia<:;e, the hen bird often c[uite of a 
 bro,\nish hue. We made sail on the following day. 
 
 Friiiav, Stli. — We crossed the Tropic. 
 
 Tiicsiiiiv, 12///. — Saw the island of S4I on the port *,-jL s^^^ 
 l)ow, and the first flyiui^-fish, ai\d pharsalia, shoals of the 
 former. 
 
 Wednesday, \^lli. A'inc a.m. — The islands f)f St. Jago 
 and Im)^o in sight, and on the following day, at 11.30 
 a.m., we anchored at Porta I'raya. I went on short;, and 
 made an excursion to the westward of the town for some 
 mills. Shot some birds for the collection, and had some 
 of the large delicious oranges for which this place is so 
 justly celebrated. I extended my lonely ramble so far 
 over ridges and through ravines, that I did not get back 
 to the town till after dark. 
 
 Friday, \$ih. — 1 landed this morning at the rocks, and 
 crossed over the hill to the eastward of the town, to 
 examine the fossil shells in the calcareous strata of the 
 cliff fronting the sea, mostly a species of oyster, the 
 limestone overlaid by basaltic lava. From thence I pro- 
 ceeded to the large, deep ravine to the eastward, and 
 which I had formerly visited when here some eight years 
 ago. It is about four miles from the town. I put up 
 several quail in the long grass on the plain, and shot one. 
 On descending into the steep-sided ravine, which appears 
 to be the breeding- place of hawks and owls, I shot two 
 kestrels in it, and saw a large monkey. Returning, I 
 paid a visit to my old friend tlie baobab-tree, in the 
 middle of the valley, and a mile to the eastward of the 
 town. It forms a very conspicuous object, having no 
 other tree near it, and only a few palma-christi bushes 
 scattered about the valley, the resort of a species of 
 alcedq, but more allied to the jacamar in the form of the 
 beak, and still more in its habits than the king-fisher. It 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 preys on the locusts and other insects in the dry, parched 
 valley, where it sits patient and silent till attracted by 
 some passing locust, or other favourite morsel, when it 
 darts off the branch of the palma-christi in pursuit, 
 returning to its former position almost immediately. 
 Unlike the true king-fisher, its habits exclude it from 
 both water and fish. On reaching the baobab-tree, I 
 ascended it, and looked for my own initials, which I had 
 cut, with the year 1832, on the main stem, about two- 
 thirds up the tree, when here last in that year. Time 
 had impressed them deeper, and they appeared larger, 
 more marked and distinct from the contraction of the 
 bark around. I now added the present year, 1839, 
 beneath the former one ; and after gathering some fruit, 
 for there were no flowers, and taking a sketch of this 
 remarkable tree, I returned at six p.m. 
 
 Saturday, \6th. — Started about noon, accompanied 
 by two of the officers of the ship, on an excursion to the 
 valley of St. Domingo. For about nine miles the road 
 passes over an almost sterile table-land ; the few stunted 
 acacia-trees scattered sparsely over it have their branches 
 all bent at right angles in one direction from the constant 
 blowing of the north-east trade-wind. After we had pro- 
 ceeded for about two-thirds of the way, we passed through 
 a small hollow with clusters of palma-christi, or castor- 
 oil plant, when a slight ascent in the angle of the road 
 brought us upon a yet higher table-land, studded with 
 small groves of the same plant. Within about two miles 
 of the village of St. Domingo, our path all at once 
 abruptly descended into a lovely valley, on a much 
 larger scale than any of the others in the island, forming 
 a perfect labyrinth of vegetation of the richest and 
 most peculiar kind, for some two miles in extent, the 
 palma-christi being here superseded by a variety of beau- 
 tiful shrubs and flowers. This picturesque glen is 
 enclosed in steep and rugged lofty mountain ranges. 
 
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 composed of greenstone and basalt, whose frowning 
 sterility formed a strikingly grand framework in con- 
 trast with the verdant landscape at their base. The 
 path, winding through the centre of this valley, is 
 strewed with loose stones like a water-course, and so 
 narrow that the foliage of the trees, in some places, 
 interlaced overhead. 
 
 At the extremity of this valley the road divides, the 
 branch to the right leading to the small village of St. 
 Domingo, consisting of a score of huts on a slight rising 
 ground, eleven miles from Porta Praya. It was now 
 5.45 p.m., and, wearied with the heat of the day, not- 
 withstanding the refreshing breeze blowing, we entered 
 the best-looking house under the impression that it was 
 an inn or " venda." The owner and his wife were seated 
 outside their door. He kindly invited us in, and proved 
 himself a most hospitable host, placing before us the 
 contents of his larder, the remains of a fine cold tuikey 
 with some bread, bananas and other fruit, one the size of 
 a small calabash, and the drink of the islands, a kind of 
 white brandy. During the conversation with our host, 
 who appeared to be a very intelligent man, we learnt that 
 he was an "officer in the Portuguese service. He could 
 not speak English, but we managed to make ourselves 
 understood in broken French, a language he spoke well. 
 He was dressed in a cap and loose blue frock, belted 
 round the waist. The young black slaves who attended 
 us during our meal, in a row, with folded arms, were 
 particularly clean and neat in appearance, and seemed 
 to be most kindly treated by the mistress of the house, 
 indeed more like their own children. After a cup of 
 coffee, at seven p.m., we took leave of our kind and 
 hospitable host and hostess. The night, though fine, 
 was dark, and the road bad, so that we did not reach 
 Porta Praya until ten p.m., and got on board about 
 midnight. We saw no guinea-fowl during our excursion, 
 
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 but many ravens ; and I shot half a dozen of the king- 
 fishers, or jacamars, in the morning, passing over the 
 hill above the baobab-tree valley. 
 
 JVed/iesday, 2otli. — The magnetic observations at 
 Quail Island being finished, we sailed at ten a.m. with a 
 fine breeze. This island of St. Jago has generally an 
 arid and scorched-up aspect, covered with long wiry 
 grass, abounding in locusts, yet affording sustenance to 
 large herds of goats, scattered over the hills, and consti- 
 tuting the chief produce of the island. The birds are : 
 guinea-fowl, quail, kestrels, owls, kingfishers, or jacamars, 
 tree-sparrows, and flocks of an elegant and beautiful 
 little African finch which abounds in the island. There 
 are some long-tailed monkeys and the finest oranges in 
 the world, large, juicy, and luscious. 
 
 Sunday, December \st, 9.30 ajii. — St. Paul's Rocks 
 in sight to windward on the port-bow. Beating up all 
 day for them. We have been for the last few days in the 
 variables, with heavy rain and squally weather, but 
 on the 25th ult. we had a fine trade-wind, the thermome- 
 ter 81° ; the evening bright starlight, the pole-star being 
 only a few degrees above the horizon, and in the fore- 
 noon of that day the planet Venus I saw very plainly, 
 nearly on a line with the main-topsail yard-arm. 
 
 Monday, 2nd. — Captain Ross left the ship to take some 
 magnetic observations on St. Paul's Rocks, Lieutenant 
 Wilmot and myself accompanying him. The weather was 
 fine, but owing to the strong currents and the heavy swell 
 setting in amid this labyrinth of rocks, we had no small 
 difficulty in effecting a landing in a small creek amongst 
 the rocks, at 8.15 a.m., on the lee-side of the rocks from 
 which the highest peak arises. The rebound of the surf, 
 from the waves dashing in between the steep rocky ledges, 
 imparted to the whole creek or basin the appearance of a 
 boiling cauldron. The whole group of rocks scarcely 
 exceeds half a mile in circumference. 
 
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 Whilst Captain Ross was employed about his magnetic 
 observations near the landing-place, I strolled over the 
 adjacent rocks on my geological survey of them, and on 
 reaching the farther end of the creek, I found that I was 
 separated from another island, on which some noddies 
 were sitting on their nests, by a crooked strait, a few 
 fathoms in wia'h, through which a very heavy surf set in 
 from the sea rutside, breaking furiously on four large 
 boulders of rock which obstructed the channel, in which 
 a number of small voracious sharks were swimming. 
 Having measured the highest peak in the island on which 
 I was standing, and made it seventy feet above the sea, 
 I was now desirous of examining the rocks and the birds' 
 nests on the other side of the strait. But the attempt 
 to cross this was not a very promising affair. However, 
 I thought nothing hazard, nothing win ; so taking off my 
 jacket, after laying down my gun, watch, and trout- 
 basket, I at once set about it, and having gained the 
 centre by leaping from rock to rock, found the rollers 
 breaking here with so much force as to afford me little 
 chance of securing a foothold on the next rock by 
 leaping, being too far apart, so I plunged into the foam- 
 ing sur*^ and swam across without any difficulty. But I 
 had no sooner fairly landed on the other side than 1 
 observed Wilmot, who had been following my footsteps 
 from the landing-place, make an attempt to cross over ; 
 when on reaching the centre rock he hesitated, on the 
 approach of a heavy roller, then, attempting to retreat, 
 was swept from his precarious footing into the surf, and 
 instead of striking out for the spot where I was standing 
 ready to assist him, and urging him so to do, he unfor- 
 tunately made for the side he had just left, and was dashed 
 with violence upon a rock, to which he clung in an 
 exhausted state, until I had recrossed by swimming to 
 windward of the rock, just in time to lend him a helping 
 hand up the ledge of rocks. Captain Ross, who from 
 
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 a distance had been a spectator of the whole affair, 
 becoming alarmed for his safety, sent one of his boat's 
 crew round to us with a rope, but by the time he reached 
 us all was right again. Having seen my companion out 
 of further harm's way, I crossed the noisy gulf for the 
 third time, and ascended the " white rock " to the boobies' 
 nests. The old birds, however, showed no disposition to 
 budge an inch for me from either their eggs or young, but 
 made a most determined stand in their defence. The nest 
 itself is a very rude affair, a little seaweed from the rocks, 
 the only form of vegetation found here, and a feather 
 or two placed on the bare rock on which the egg or 
 eggs related, from one to three, but mostly two, the size 
 of a small duck's egg, having a rough, white, chalky 
 surface. Both male and female were equally zealous in 
 defence of their treasures, keeping close together for 
 mutual protection, and what is most remarkable, each 
 pair of birds had only one young one, and I examined 
 many nests. This may be accounted for by the numerous 
 voracious crabs, which swarmed on the rocky ledges, 
 having destroyed the other egg or eggs, or from their 
 having become rotten, for I found some in this condition. 
 But I also have seen a crab after I had disturbed a bird 
 from her nest carry off an egg in his claws, and that 
 boldly before my face. Perhaps both causes may con- 
 tribute to lessen their number. The young are about the 
 size of large goslings, and covered with snow-white down. 
 I brought six of them and a pair of old birds away with 
 me for my ornithological collection, both alive and dead. 
 Some noddies {Sterna stolida) formed a little colony above 
 the boobies (Sii/a/usca), and curious enough, although 
 on the other island their eggs were laid on the bare rock, 
 hero the noddy had constructed a regular nest of the 
 conferva which projected from the steep face of the 
 rock, in a rounded form, a white, calcareous fringe 
 hanging from it. The top of the nest forms nearly a 
 
Homes of the Boobies and the Noddies. 
 
 21 
 
 plane surface, on which rests the single egg or young 
 bird, for this bird only lays one egg, and, unlike the 
 booby, flies off its nest without any attempt to defend it. 
 The egg is about the size and shape of a plover's, but 
 of a chalky-white colour, the large end sprinkled over 
 with a few small brown spots. In the pools of water 
 left on the rocks I observed some sea-slugs and a few 
 small pilot-fish, banded black and yellow. The numerous 
 small crabs, ever on the watch and hiding in the crevices 
 of the rocks, were so daring, that after seizing upon an 
 egg, after the bird had got off its nest, it would, if 
 hard pressed in a corner, assume an attitude of deter- 
 mined defiance, rising up on its slender legs, and with 
 projecting eyes and pincers and mouth open, look as 
 savage and ferocious as it was possible for so small a 
 creature to do. Active and quick-sighted as they were, 
 however, I caught three or four of them. 
 
 The Terror's boat had now arrived with her captain 
 and some of his officers ; after landing them, the boat's 
 crew pulled round to the island on which I had isolated 
 myself, and I availed myself of this opportunity to put 
 the specimens I had collected into this boat, and row to 
 the island where I had left my gun and other things, and 
 then returned to the observatory. I had been in my 
 shirt-sleeves for some hours, and got dry again in the sun, 
 after my drenching in the foaming torrents. We all 
 returned on board at six p.m., and made sail on our 
 course immediately. I was employed in skinning birds 
 and stowing away specimens until two a.m. I brought 
 on board with me a pretty little noddy, nearly fledged, 
 lor a pet, and two old boobies I shot fiying overhead 
 for specimens. 
 
 This in every way remarkable group of rocks, rising 
 as they do in mid-ocean, between two continents so far 
 apart, the nearest land being the coast of South America, 
 between 500 and 600 miles distant, has been an enigma 
 
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 33 
 
 Voyao^cs of Discovery 
 
 to geologists, from whom, hitliurto, no very satisfactory 
 account has appeared ; the rocks of which they are 
 composed being somewhat sui generis, for I know of 
 none with which they can be fairly classified. The 
 structure and delicate veining of some of the specimens 
 which I collected is most singular and striking, evidently 
 metamorphosed to a certain extent. Rising so little 
 above the sea level, they are constantly a-wash, not even 
 the highest peak, which is seventy feet, and the white 
 peak of sixty-one feet in height, can escape the surf 
 thrown over them by heavy gales. The curious white 
 appearance of some of the summits, so striking on ap- 
 proaching them, is doubtless owing to a coating of 
 guano, from their being the resort of so many sea-birds. 
 But some of the specimens have a whitish substance in- 
 terlaid sandwiched, as it were, between two hard brownish 
 tablets, having a calcareous appearance. Others resemble 
 some varieties of serpentine, ramifying, in very delicate 
 fibrous veins, in all directions through the rocks. If the 
 general structure of these is Neptunian, there can be no 
 doubt about their having been elevated from the depths 
 of the vast ocean by submarine volcanic agency during 
 some great disturbance of the bed of the Atlantic, when 
 the group of the Canary Islands, and maybe the Cape 
 de Verdes, were isolated from the African continent. 
 These, some half-dozen rocks, are situated nearly on the 
 equator, in the latitude of o° 56' N., and in the longitude 
 of 29° 20' W. On a steep submarine mountain — a mile 
 off S., 67 K. — a 500-fathom line failed to reach the 
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Nine-pin Rock, Trinidad. (Si-f pa^e 25.) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 'rrinidad — Botanical and geological features of the Nine-pin Rock — 
 Our Christmas dinner at the equator —Letting in the year 1840 — 
 St. Helena— Its scenery — Visit to Longwood — Napoleon's apart- 
 ments—His tomb — Ladder Hill. 
 
 ! 1 
 
 
 Wednesday, \tli. — Having crossed the equator at mid- 
 night, the ceremony of crossing the line was in full force 
 to-day ; all those on board who had not crossed before 
 went through the usual shaving and ducking on such 
 occasions. I had already myself crossed it and the 
 tropics twice before. 
 
 Tuesday, \']th. — I accompanied Captains Ross and 
 Crozier to make magnetic observations on the island of 
 Trinidad, and after a long pull along the coast we found 
 some difTiculty in finding a landing-place, from the heavy 
 surf breaking everywhere along the rugged, rock-bound 
 shore. The frigate-bird [Tariiypctis aqiiila) was hover- 
 ing overhead as we approached the shore, and a beautiful 
 
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 24 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 little snow-white tern examined us curiously with its expres- 
 sive, full, large dark eyes, within arm's length of us, as it 
 followed the boat to the shore. We at last effected a 
 landing in a small cove to the left of the Nine-pin Rock, 
 jumping out of the boat upon a ledge flanked by a dark, 
 frowning, perpendicular wall of greenstone on the right. 
 It was now ten a.m. and we found ourselves cut off 
 from the rest of the island, on a narrow strip of beach, 
 hemmed in by inaccessible hills of greenstone, their steep 
 sides strewed with loose frasrments of rock fallen from 
 above, intermingled with tufts of long wiry grass and 
 small ferns. I lost no time in scrambling up the side of 
 the hill, by laying hold of the tufts of long wiry grass 
 for support, but all further progress was soon arrested 
 by walls of rock ; and whilst thus geologizing and alone, 
 I heard a shout from my companions on the beach be- 
 neath me for my return. When I had descended to the 
 beach they had already got into the boat, and were about 
 shoving off, with the intention of landing on the other 
 side of the Nine-pin, so that I had to wade through the 
 surf into the boat. There were numbers of white tern 
 and sheerwater breeding amongst the rocks, and large 
 land-crabs abounded. My companions had already 
 lunched, but there was now no time left for me to follow 
 their example. At two p.m. we again landed, and I at once 
 began the ascent of the hill, which was covered with 
 loose soil and fraguientary rocks, interspersed with long 
 tufts of cyperace;e and ferns. I attained a height, 
 bounded by a large mass of rock, where a great number of 
 dead trees, barkless, white, and blanched, were scattered 
 around in wild confusion, here and there one fixed in the 
 soil in an erect position. I found by the hour of the day 
 it was now time to rehirn to the boat, or I should have 
 much liked to have gained a peak still above me, and, by 
 crossing a deep valley to a hill on the opposite side, 
 have examined the only group of living trees visible, and , 
 
 
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 The Nine-pin Rock. 
 
 25 
 
 4 
 
 apparently conifera?, occupying its summit, about a mile 
 distant. How all the other trees became destroyed is 
 to me a mystery, for I saw no traces of goats or 
 other inhabitants on the island. The elegant white 
 tern alone accompanied me in my ramble, hovering in 
 a circle close over my head. The ships appeared 
 immediately below my feet, close in shore. On my 
 return to the boat, I had a most refreshing draught of 
 deliciously cool and sparkling water from a watercourse 
 down the rocks where we landed. 
 
 We next pulled round the Nine-pin Rock, a remarkable 
 pillar of greenstone rising from the main ridge to a 
 height of 850 feet ; on one side is a small basaltic dyke, 
 and on the other a large greenstone one. Portions of 
 this greenstone exhibited a very singular, mammiform 
 appearance, the flat surface, embossed by numerous 
 globular, bead-like excrescences in strong relief, clearly 
 produced by some external influences acting upon the 
 greenstone when in fusion. I have never met with any- 
 thing resembling it before. Captain Ross having finished 
 his observations, and these not proving satisfactory 
 from the iron in the volcanic rocks ^iffecting the needle 
 so much, he gave up his intention of landing to-morrow ; 
 therefore, on our return on board at seven p.m., we 
 made all sail for St. Helena. We left a cock and two 
 hens, brought from England for the purpose, on the 
 beach, with the intention of stocking the island with 
 poultry, f(n the use of any shij)s touching there. 
 
 Tuesday, 2\th. — My cabin having become filled to 
 overflowing with the Government collection of speci- 
 mens of natural history, I got the sect)nd master, in 
 charge of the hold, to relieve me of a case by stowing 
 it away there. But our matter-of-fact first lieutenant, 
 to whom everything connected with science is a bore and 
 an enigma, to prove his zeal for such pursuits, ordered 
 it up again, as having no abiding-place there. 
 
 
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 26 Voyages of Discovery, 
 
 About eleven p.m. on Christmas Eve I saw the great 
 constellation of the southern hemisphere, the " Southern 
 Cross," just appearing above the horizon, for the first 
 time this voyage. But really I can see nothing very 
 striking in the form of the cross Itself ; it owes much of 
 the interest attached to it, I believe, to our own associa- 
 tions with it, and still more to the vicinity of those singular 
 and remarkable nebulae, " Magellan's Clouds," and that 
 strange black void, the " Coal-sack," for much of the 
 beauty claimed for it. It cannot, I think for one moment, 
 be compared with those striking and glorious constella- 
 tions of our northern hemisphere, the " Great Bear," 
 " Ursa Major," and " Orion." But there is undoubtedly 
 a marvellous interest attached to the " Magellan Clouds " 
 and the telescopic star nebuLTc in this portion of the 
 heavens astronomically, to which I may have occasion to 
 refer again in subsequent pages. 
 
 Wednesday^ 25///.— We pass our first Christmas Day 
 at sea, with light airs and fine weather, beating up for 
 St. Helena. After divisions we had prayers and a sermon 
 from Captain Ross. I saw a large spermaceti whale 
 spouting about a mile distant on the port-bow. At 
 three p.m. we had Captain Ross and the gentlemen from 
 the midshipmen's berth to dine in the gun-room with us ; 
 thirteen in all sat down to table, Captain Ross in his 
 customary place at the after end of the sofa, and I was 
 in my own place at the foremost end, next the bulkhead. 
 Our Christmas fare : pea-soup, followed by roast turkey 
 and ham, and preserved meat-pie, parsnips, plum-pudding, 
 and pumpkin-tart. I saw the " Southern Cross " again 
 this evening. 
 
 Friday^ 2']tJi. — Had some dolphin for breakfast, caught 
 yesterday, and again at dinner, at Captain Ross's table, 
 with whom I din(>d to-day. 
 
 Tuesday y 2,'^st. — It being a lovely night, I walked the 
 deck throughout the whole of the first watch ; saw the old 
 
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 New Vcar''s Day. 27 
 
 year out and the new one in. Before I turned in I went 
 below to the midshipmen's berth, and joined them in a 
 glass of mulled wine. To-morrow, New Year's Day, all 
 the officers have had an invitation to dine with Captain 
 Ross. 
 
 Wednesday, January \st, 1840. — New Year's Day 
 commenced with the delightful weather of these regions, 
 a clear blue sky, briglit sun, and fresh breezes. About 
 1.30 p.m. sounded as usual to obtain the temperature of 
 the sea at a great depth. All hands on deck stepping 
 out to the fiddle, whilst the line was hauling in, in lat. 28° 
 20' S., long. 19° 40'. The gun-room officers and mid- 
 shipmen from the berth dined in the cabin with Captain 
 Ross to-day ; thirteen in all sat down to table. 
 
 Friday, '^rd. — Saw five or six dolphins swimming 
 round the shi|), and one was caught ; two or three pilot- 
 lish playing about the rudder. The ship was hove-to for 
 deep soundings, and it was calculated that the bottom 
 had been reached at 2400 fathoms, but the weight carrying 
 away the line in hauling it in, most of it was lost. 
 
 Friday, \oth. — A fine large flying-fish, weighing six- 
 teen and a half ounces, and sixteen inches in length, fell 
 on board during the morning watch, which I preserved 
 in spirits. 
 
 Sunday, 26th. — At midnight I saw the planet Jupiter 
 rise soon after the moon, and just below it, and about 
 half an hour later "Ursa Major" appeared above the 
 horizon for the first time since leaving the Canary Islands, 
 and at the same time the " Southern Cross " appeared 
 at a considerable altitude in the opposite quarter of the 
 heavens. The night was clear and beautiful, and before 
 the moon rose, the "Milky Way" passing through the 
 cross, and the constellation of the ship, formed a wave- 
 like band across the zenith, with the two white " Clouds 
 (if Magellan" remarkably distinct and bright. 
 
 Friday, 31.V/. — The island of St. Helena in sight 
 
 
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 ahead, almost enveloped in clouds, five or six leagues 
 distant. Three bonito were caught with hook and line, 
 and we had some for dinner ; white tern were flying 
 overhead, and porpoises swimming beneath. Anchored 
 at three p.m., having made the land at nine a.m. I 
 recognized in the harbourmaster, who came on board, a 
 former messmate, who had been master of H.M.S. Tyne^ 
 in which ship I returned to England from Rio Janeiro. 
 On first making the island, which presents a barren, arid, 
 and scorched-up aspect, and nothing very striking in 
 the mountain outlines, on the summits of which a few 
 clumps of pines are scattered, studded here and there 
 with a white house, and signal-stations on almost every 
 point. 
 
 Saturday, February \st. — I went on shore, and again 
 on the following day called on Gulliver, the harbourmaster, 
 andwith him attended morning service at the small church. 
 Afterwards we mounted horses outside, and rode across 
 the island to " Fairy-land," the country residence of 
 a merchant of Jamestown, of the name of Gideon. 
 Reached the house at three p.m., drenched in rain ; the 
 weather was overcast and threatening when we started, 
 and before we had got half-way heavy showers fell, the 
 mountains were hidden in mist, and the scenery entirely 
 obscured. The first part of our journey lay over Ladder 
 Hill, past the barracks, then winding along hills and 
 hollows. The small deep valleys formed good pasturage, 
 and the few cattle we saw appeared to be good-sized 
 animals. Pretty white-washed villas studded both hill 
 and valley, surrounded by gardens and larch-plantations, 
 chiefly the residences of retired officers of the St. Helena 
 corps. Hedgerows of blackberries, on which the fruit 
 was just ripening, flanked the lanes, with geraniums and 
 other flowers in bloom. I saw some flocks of finches. 
 
 As we approached " Fairy-land " the road terminated 
 abruptly in a grassy knoll, and passing through a gate 
 
 
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At St. Helena. 
 
 29 
 
 by a winding path, through a plantation for a short dis- 
 tance, the pretty white villa, with its little gate and lawn 
 in front, burst upon our view. Our host, little expecting 
 visitors in such weather, had only just awakened from 
 his siesta, but received us kindly at the door ; and after 
 exchanging our wet clothes for dry ones, we were ushered 
 into the drawing-room, and introduced to Mrs. Gideon 
 and two young ladies on a visit there from Jamestown ; 
 and on the two daughters of the house joining us, dinner 
 was announced, and after three hours had very s'^ciably 
 passed, we took leave of our hospitable host and his 
 family. 
 
 Monday, ^rd. — I dined at the mess of the 91st Regi- 
 ment and artillery. The Antartic Expedition called forth 
 a speech from Colonel Trelawney, which was briefly 
 acknowledged by Captain Ross. My old messmate, Gul- 
 liver, the harbourmaster, and his friend, Mr. Gideon, of 
 " Fairy-land," were both there. About midnight, on 
 reaching the landing-place, we could not succeed in get- 
 ting a boat to take us on board, and had to sleep on 
 chairs at " Lawler's Hotel," nearly devoured by mos- 
 quitoes. 
 
 Tuesday, \th. — At nine a.m. I started on horseback 
 from the mess-rooms in James Street, in company with 
 our two artillery officers, on an excursion to Longwood. 
 About a mile from Jamestown we passed the "Briars" 
 on the right, once the temporary residence of Napoleon. 
 At 9.30 a.m. we reached Captain Alexander's quarters, 
 an engineer officer, where we breakfasted, after which he 
 accompanied us to Longwood, passing in sight of the 
 tomb of Napoleon, at the bottom of a valley on our left. 
 About noon we entered the grounds of Longwood, 
 situated 1730 feet above the level of the sea. A pasture, 
 flanked by some straggling gum-trees, leads to Long- 
 wood " old house," and the new house, which we first 
 visited, is about 100 yards beyond, and to the left. It is 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 a neat and somewhat handsome structure, long and low; 
 most of the apartments are on the ground-floor, the 
 drawing-room, a spacious room, with the walls of the 
 " Imperial green." In front is a balcony, with a variety of 
 shrubs and flowers growing in great luxuriance beneath, 
 amongst which the passion-flower was most conspicuous. 
 Bounding the extensive prospect is Flagstaff Hill, the 
 barn, and on an eminence across the valley stands Dead 
 Wood. On either side of these hills the deep blue 
 ocean appears. The day was fine, with bright sunshine, 
 and the whole scene wore an air of peaceful retirement, 
 partaking both of English and tropical scenery. 
 
 We next visited the old house ; the main entrance is 
 beneath a green verandah, in a sort of gable. The first 
 room, which was Napoleon's billiard-room, is now filled 
 with bearded wheat. This apartment opens into the 
 bedroom, under the^, second window of which the great 
 Napoleon's head rested when he drew his last breath on 
 earth. The next two rooms were his sitting and break- 
 fast rooms, both dark and gloomy, having little light 
 beyond what the doors admitted — one was entirely 
 destitute of a window. A threshing-machine now 
 occupied one of these apartments. In the corner of the 
 small adjoining courtyard is a willow, said to have been 
 planted by the Imperial captive's own hand from a twig 
 he himself brought from the v^iUey where his tomb is 
 now situated. • 
 
 At one p.m. we remounted our horses to ascend 
 Diana's Peak, the highest part of the island, 2697 feet to 
 its summit, which we reached on foot, having secured 
 our horses by their bridles to some shrubs in the valley 
 beneath. Several beautiful tree-ferns grew along the 
 valley ridge, over Halley's Mount, Cuckold's Point, &c., 
 as we proceeded along a narrow pathway, flanked on 
 either side by shrubs and dense underwocd to the top, 
 which we stood upon at 2.30 p.m., but a cap of mist 
 
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 Napoleon'' s Tomb. 31 
 
 sadly obscured our view. At three p.m., remounting our 
 steeds, we returned to Jamestown by the sandy bay road, 
 and down Ladder Hill, getting on board at five p.m. 
 
 Thursday, 6lh. — Having sent a large case of speci- 
 mens of natural history, my first instalment for the 
 Admiralty, on board the Sa7ntiel Eii(k'rby ior \ini;^\c\nA, 
 I landed on an excursion to Napoleon's tomb, which we 
 reached at five p.m., amid bright sunshine. I had a 
 most refreshing draught of sparkling clear water from the 
 well at which the mighty Napoleon used to drink. I 
 took a sketch of the tomb, over which some of my 
 feathered friends and favourite birds, the ducks, were 
 irreveiently waddling, after which we repaired to Mrs. 
 Torbutt's cottage, just below it, and had some refresh- 
 ment, inserting our names at the same time in the 
 visitors' book. At 6.40 p.m. we commenced our return, 
 but it was dark before we reached Jamestown and got 
 on board. 
 
 Napoleon's grave is covered by three large plain slabs, 
 enclosed within iron palisades. At its head a small 
 geranium was growing. A group of seven willows 
 Hanks the northern side, with a larger tree on the south 
 side. The whole of the interior greensward enclosure, 
 surrounded by a wooden fence, perhaps a hundred feet in 
 circumference, is filled with cypress and fir-trees, alter- 
 nating with each other. About fifty yards above this is 
 the old sergeant's cottage who has charge of the keys to 
 the enclosure, and he at once admitted us, although we 
 had come without an order from the town-major, which 
 is usually necessary for admission. After taking a sketch 
 and gathering some sprigs of the willows, we drove 
 off again, and got on board at eleven p.m. The general 
 aspect of Longwood and its environs, the valley of the 
 tomb, far exceeded my expectations from previous 
 descriptions. An extensive command of prospect around, 
 presenting a pleasing, rural, peaceful appearance, which, 
 
 
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 32 
 
 Voyaj^cs 0/ Discovery. 
 
 on a fine sunny clay, with the birds singini^, as was the 
 case when I saw it, with the bold ruj^^j^ed hills of the 
 Flagstaff and the Barn, and glimpses of the sea between, 
 altogether forms a fine background to the picture. But 
 from every bearing the three plain slabs, beneath which 
 repose the remains of, perhaps, the greatest man the 
 world ever saw, girt round with their bristling palisades, 
 these again enclosed by a green sward, encircled by 
 cypress and fir-trees, and the group of weeping willows 
 overhanging the tomb itself in the sequestered nook 
 forming the extremity of the valley, produced on my 
 mind, at the first glance, the most striking and impres- 
 sive effect of any scene my eye ever before rested upon, 
 so marked a feature does it present in this romantic 
 glen. 
 
 Friday, "jth. — At 3.15 p.m. I went on shore with the 
 purser, and the first thing I did on landing was to ascend 
 Ladder Hill, to test the shortest time in which it could be 
 done, or, at least, that I could myself accomplish it in. 
 The ascent is at a somewhat steep angle ; the number 
 of steps amounted to 6^,6, each a foot apart, and of 
 wood — one had been carried away. There were six 
 seats or benches at the sides, placed at intervals, as 
 resting-places. I reached the top in nine minutes, with- 
 out resting once on the way, and I think it could be done 
 in a shorter space of time if one were prepared before- 
 hand with a light dress for the occasion, hut I made the 
 attempt on the spur of the moment in my ordinary dress 
 — uniform frock-coat with epaulettes, &c., and the sun 
 bearing a great power at the same time. I was only four 
 minutes in descending very leisurely. The height of the 
 hill is estimated at 600 feet. 
 
 At the summit I met Wilmot, our artillery officer, and 
 an oflicer of the Ladder Hill station, with whom I 
 remained about eight minutes in conversation before I 
 descended. The purser, who remained at the bottom of 
 
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 the ladder, timed my ascent and descent by his watch. 
 At 4.15 p.m. the purser and myself started for the tomb 
 in Mr. Gideon's chaise. The distance is little more than 
 three miles, but the road uphill and steep. When within 
 a quarter of a mile, a road branches of? to the left down 
 the deep valley, at the narrow upper end of which the 
 remains of Napoleon rest. Longwood appears cresting 
 the ridge on the opposite side of the valley. 
 
 Saturday, %th. — I left the ship at eleven a.m., and 
 
 called on board the Aracline, now a merchant barque, 
 
 bound for England, once a corvette of eighteen guns, in 
 
 which, in the year 1830, I returned from New Providence 
 
 to England. On landing with the assistant-surgeon, Dr. 
 
 Hooker (now Sir Joseph), we started from Jamestown, 
 
 with fine weather, on our last excursion across the island, 
 
 to take leave of our kind friends at " Fairy-land." We 
 
 went by the Longwood road, passing the " Briars," a 
 
 pretty modern-looking villa, having a green balcony, 
 
 enclosed in lawn and shrubs, once the residence of the 
 
 Balcombes, when Napoleon was an inmate. Ascending 
 
 a hill, turning a sharp angle of the road overlooking the 
 
 valley of the tomb, I took a sketch of the tomb, this being 
 
 undoubtedly by far the best point of view to be had 
 
 of it. At one p.m. we continued our course along the 
 
 rocky ridge to Diana's Peak, and along a narrow lane 
 
 covered with long grass to the main road. This road 
 
 skirted a v.illey in which a number of wild raspberries 
 
 ,, very tempting indeed as far as appearance 
 
 ; a bright scarlet colour, and more like the 
 
 Oen han the English raspberry in shape, but the 
 
 ta peculiarly insipid and mawkish. Growing on a low, 
 
 spreading bush, at a short distance they present the 
 
 . |ipearance of small damask rose-buds that have not 
 
 unfolded, as they pt llirough the green foliage. 
 
 We called at " 1 -e Cottage," the residence of the 
 . chief justice. Or, e outskirts of " Fairy-land" I shot 
 
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 34 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 A canary in its native green plumage, which, with the 
 " aberdevate," a pretty Httle finch I afterwards shot a 
 specimen of from a flock flying overhead, constitute the 
 main portion of the ornithology of the island, so sparsely 
 are the feathered race distributed. Here I lost my 
 powder-flask, and whilst retracing my steps in search of 
 it, found a small tortoise instead, rather a remarkable 
 occurrence, I was told, as the animal is not indigenous to 
 the island. I took it on board with me. Reached the 
 Gideons' at 4.20 p.m. Found the young ladies at their 
 embroidery-work ; they accompanied us to the Flag- 
 staff and summer-house, at the extremity of a narrow 
 wooded embankment, overhanging a deep valley, from 
 which the singular cone-:haped basaltic rock called 
 " Lot " arises, a bold and conspicuous object in the 
 scene spread out before us, which is here of the most 
 picturesque and beautiful description. To the right 
 appears another remarkable peak, called " Lot's Wife," 
 with the "Asses' Ears." Whilst at the distance of some 
 two miles or so, the blue ocean peeps through an opening 
 in the hills, where the surf breaks on the rocks bounding 
 Sandy Bay. " Lot" is a rock 1444 feet above the level 
 of the sea. 
 
 At 8.15 p.m. we started on our return, with six or seven 
 miles before us, on a dark night with drizzling rain, and 
 along a road we had only been once before. The 
 greatest bane to the island is its extreme humidity, 
 the mountains being for the most part of the year 
 enveloped in either mist or rain. The island is of sub- 
 marine formation. 
 
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 Clcft-sunimit of Table Mountain. {Sec pdi^e 42 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
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 seven 
 and 
 The 
 
 fidity, 
 year 
 sub- 
 
 A deep sounding— Africa sighted— In Simon's Bay — Excursion to Cape 
 Town — I'armer I'cck — His ([ueor hostelry — A Dutch wine-grower 
 and his wines — Ascent of Table Mountain — Marion's Island- 
 Possession Island. 
 
 Sunday, giJi. — Wo j[^nt under wei^h, bad(? adieu to St. 
 Helena for a time, and st(X)d along the land with a fine 
 breeze, the weather fine and clear, and as I was about 
 descending below to dinner, at three p.m., I saw the last 
 of the land, a distant view of Sandy Bay. 
 
 Saturday, 22nd. — A number of small sepia fell on 
 board, and I picked up one alive on the starboard-booms. 
 It pulsated strongly in my hand, and on putting it into 
 ;'. tumbler of sea-water it emptied its ink-hag of dark 
 
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 36 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 fluid and expired. Between twenty and thirty others 
 were picked up. I saw two sheerwaters. 
 
 Saturday, March ist. — A fine large albatross made 
 several sweeps round the wake of the ship, and eventually 
 alighted in the water at some distance astern ; a sheer- 
 water or two have been following the ship for the last 
 day or two, and this evening the wake of the ship was 
 rendered brilliantly luminous by the pyrosoma. 
 
 Tuesday, "^rd. — The ship was hove-to to sound the 
 depth of the ocean ; two boats were lowered with reel 
 and line, and the two captains left the ship in her. A 
 weight of 540 lbs. was attached to a spun-yarn line of 
 5000 fathoms, which reached bottom at a depth of 2677 
 fathoms. This was by far the greatest depth we had 
 yet obtained. The latitude was 33° 20' 42" S., longitude 
 9° 3' E., 470 miles from the Cape of Good Hope. The 
 line not being able to raise the weight from such a depth 
 had to be cut, consequently the whole of the submerged 
 portion was lost. 
 
 Monday, gth, eight a.m. — Upon going on deck I had 
 my first sight of the African coast appearing low-lying 
 on the starboard-bow, standing in towards St. Helena 
 Bay. 
 
 On the 13th, Friday, at 5.40 a.m., I saw Table Moun- 
 tain on the port-bow, and soon afterwards the ships in 
 Table Bay. The horizontal stratification of the white 
 silicious sandstone forming the summit of the hills above 
 their granite base, is seen to great advantage from the 
 sea. Albatrosses and petrels were numerous ; fish of 
 four kinds were caught forwards as fast as the lines 
 could be baited. 
 
 Tuesday, March \']th, eleven a.m. — We came to an 
 anchor half a mile from shore in Simon's Bay. Found 
 the Terror already there, and the Melville flagship. 
 
 Thursday, igth. — I went on shore, and walked round 
 the west point to the cemetery, nearly a mile from the 
 
 *• \ 
 
Farmer Peck. 
 
 37 
 
 town, proceeding along the base of Simon's Bay. Only 
 saw a few sugar-birds, much resembling both in size and 
 colouring of plumage the humming-birds of the West 
 Indies ; in fact, a representative of that bird in the Old 
 World, it having similar habits. I returned along the 
 beach, where I met with a similar incrustation bed to the 
 Porto Lorenco one at Madeira. It occupied some acre 
 or two of sand, separated from the sea by a sand-dune, 
 only studded with encrusted stems. The charred nucleus 
 of wood here has evidently been the stem of a seaside 
 plant now growing in great numbers on the spot. The 
 univalve shells scattered about resemble the Lorenco 
 ones, apparently {Helt'x Raniondt) lake shell, belonging 
 to the Miocene period. 
 
 Friday, 20th. — Landed on a shooting excursion ; only 
 met with a few small birds, sugar-birds, and honey- 
 eaters. The sandy plain is scattered over with an 
 abundant heath-growth and numerous proteaceae. 
 
 Monday, 2^rd. — Started for Cape Town. After cross- 
 ing several sandy bays we passed some fences of whale- 
 bone, the " Whalebone Inn," and through a turnpike- 
 gate. When at seven miles from Simon's Town, the 
 well-known eccentric Farmer Peck's white gable appeared" "' 
 on the right, with his name in large black letters painted 
 on it. Here we alighted at 10.40 a.m., and after ordering 
 breakfast, had our patience put to the test by having to 
 wait for an hour before it was got ready. Farmer Peck 
 appears to be quite aware of his being a privileged 
 character, and, with a certain amount of independence 
 about him, does not seem to care very much about 
 putting himself out of the way about anybody. He is a 
 small, spare man, about fifty years of age, with more the 
 appearance of a sallow-complexioned citizen than a 
 farmer. Whilst breakfast was preparing I took a survey 
 of the premises, which consisted of a low range of 
 thatched buildings on the ground-floor, and most unlike 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 all our notions of a farm, located in a barren, sandy tract, 
 with not a tree or shrub to enliven it. Bounded on one 
 side by False Bay, it has between it and the sea a long 
 strip of level beach, from which it is separated by only a 
 few yards of sand-dunes. The opposite side of the road 
 has a background of arid hills, rising to a considerable 
 elevation. An apology for a garden is attached to one 
 end of the premises, an enclosure fenced in with cane, in 
 which a few stunted fig-trees were struggling for exis- 
 tence, with the pretty linle sugar- birds flitting like 
 rainbow-coloured gems amongst them, whales' ribs form- 
 ing the road fence. A number of gulls were walking 
 on the sands of the shore. In front of the door next to 
 the main road, a signboard swings between two rough 
 posts suspended from a cross-beam, having on it the 
 words,— 
 
 "GENTLE SHEPHERD OF SALISBURY PLAIN." 
 
 The following lines are inscribed on either side of the 
 lower board : — 
 
 On the left side. 
 
 " ' Multum in parvo ! pro bono publico.' 
 
 Entertainment for man or beast, all of a row. 
 Lekker Kost, as much as you please ; 
 Excellent beds, without any fleas." 
 
 O71 the right side. 
 
 " Nos patrium fugimus, now we are here, 
 Vivamus, let us live by selling beer. 
 On donne h. boire, et "k manger ici, 
 Come in and try it, Avhoever you li ■ " 
 
 The small room in which \\c breakfasted had white- 
 washed walls, and no other ceiling than the bare timbers 
 of the roof overhead. The furniture consisted of four 
 deal tables, ten dark-coloured chairs, an old cane-backed 
 sofa, with a sanded floor. The young girl, whilst preparing 
 
Dutch Vineyards. 
 
 39 
 
 the breakfast-table, handed me three curious caricatures, 
 painted in oil on small square pieces of wood, the work 
 of some previous visitor. One represented a grotesque 
 figure, in cocked-hat and red coat, with " Sir Roger de 
 Peck, of Bushell Hall, 1649," written on it. We had a 
 chicken killed and grilled for breakfast, with a limited 
 number of fried eggs and .ham, and some very fair coffee, 
 for which the charge was 3^. each. 
 
 Our road now took an inland direction, passing round 
 the base of hills and away from the sea ; and after pro- 
 ceeding for some distance across a sandy plain, we 
 eventually arrived at " Little Constantia," one of the 
 celebrated wine-farms or vineyards, amid a shady avenue 
 of lofty trees, fine oaks. This was C. Coligne's, which 
 we had intended visiting, but finding three carriages-and- 
 fours standing at the entrance to the avenue, we concluded 
 that the time of the people at the vineyard would be fully 
 occupied by these visitors ; so at 2.30 p.m. turned down 
 the magnificent avenue of ancient oaks, whose tops inter- 
 laced overhead, forming quite an arboreal arcade. A 
 short drive brought us to the " Great Constantia," where, 
 entering by a wide gateway, we drove through an 'avenue of 
 large trees up to a substantial, handsome-looking house, 
 and were at once ushered into a large and well-furnished 
 apartment, at the entrance to which stood a fine stuffed 
 leopard, which had been shot by the owner on the side 
 of Table Mountain about four years before. We were 
 taken to the wine-house, and told that the proprietor 
 would soon be with us, and we filled up the interval in 
 rambling round a large orchard on the left side of the 
 building, planted with pear, apple, medlar, and other fruit- 
 trees. In a small vinery the grapes had already been 
 gathered. On our return to the wine-house, we found 
 Mr. Cloete, the owner of the establishment — a fine 
 specimen of the old Dutch gentleman — awaiting us. 
 He first showed us the wines fermenting in the vats, and 
 
 I iJili 
 
 j! ' ? 
 
40 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 vt 
 
 >i r 
 
 U I 
 
 explained to us the whole process, at the same time hand- 
 ing us a glass of each to taste. First, the " Red 
 Constantia," made from the red muscatel grape ; next, the 
 "White Constantia," from the green kind," sold at 15/. 
 the " half-aam," of nineteen gallons ; third, the " Fron- 
 tignac," 18/. 155. the " half-aam ;" fourth, the " Pontac," 
 a sweet, dark red wine, and the highest in price, being 
 22/. the " half-aam ;" the fifth and last sort was the com- 
 monest, sold at only 7/. 7^. the " half-aam," and called 
 " Steen " — the "White Constantia" being considered 
 the finest-flavoured of all. The grapes are used when 
 half the bunch is converted into raisins, and fermentation 
 is checked from proceeding too rapidly by burning a stick 
 of sulphur in the cask before adding the grapes. The 
 wines are kept for four years in warehouse before they are 
 fit for the market. 
 
 We next accompanied the owner to the oldest vineyard, 
 a field of fifteen acres, to the right of the house. The 
 vines were planted in rows four feet apart, each plant 
 being from two to three feet in height, with from four to 
 five short, thick stems, each bush bearing on an average 
 twelve bunches of grapes, by no means of large size. 
 Some were red and others green, a few of the plants 
 having fruit not larger than the common currant. The 
 peculiar-flavoured, small, dark grape, which is employed 
 with the red muscatel in the making of the " Pontac," 
 affords scarcely any juice, and is used only to give flavour 
 and colour ; the productiveness of this grape being so 
 small renders the " Pontac " so expensive a wine. This 
 estate is the oldest of all, dating its origin as far back as 
 150 years, and was named "Constantia" after the 
 daughter of the Dutch governor. Van der Stall, who first 
 founded it. 
 
 Mr. Cloete also told us that the estate had been in his 
 own family for a generation or two, and that the vineyard 
 of fif een acres, which he had just shown us, was fifty 
 
Ascerii of Table Mountain. 
 
 4' 
 
 years old. The whole of the vinery occupies thirty-seven 
 acres, producing from thirty to forty pipes a year, at an 
 average price of 90/. a pipe. Having passed about an 
 hour at the estate very agreeably, and not unprofitably, 
 we resumed our journey. At the end of the lane we 
 passed by the third establishment on the left, having the 
 words " High Constantia" written over the gateway. 
 It belongs to S. V. Van Renen. From this to Wynberg 
 the road is good, and passes through this very pretty 
 village to Cape Town, seven miles distant. The late 
 governor was Sir Benjamin D'Urban, whose daughter 
 and sons had long years gone by been at the same 
 dancing-school with myself at Yarmouth, in Norfolk. 
 General D'Urban, who was with the Duke of Wellington in 
 the Peninsular War, (my own father at the time serving 
 with the Baltic fleet,) was now living in Wynberg, where 
 also resides the admiral on the station. It is a charming 
 spot, having a cheerful English aspect ; carriages and 
 horses were passing to and fro, and omnibuses running 
 daily. Villas are scattered about amongst the trees, 
 and a pretty-looking church appears at a distance on 
 the left. 
 
 The approach to Cape Town is very pleasing, command- 
 ing an extensive view over the plain, studded here and 
 there with windmills and numerous white houses. Table 
 Mountain rises on the left, and the town, with the bay full 
 of shipping, spreads out in front. We passed several 
 waggons on the road, each having from fourteen to six- 
 teen large black oxen yoked to them, their horns curved 
 upwards, little short of a fathom in extent. 
 
 Thursday, 26th. — Arose at four a.m., and, accompanied 
 by the surgeon of the Terror, shaped as direct a course 
 as possible for the base of the mountain, which is 3550 
 feet high. It was 6.15 a.m. when we commenced the 
 ascent from the Millhouse, by a watercourse. After 
 quitting this we had kept too much to the left, bringing 
 
 
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42 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 I I 
 
 ! ; 
 
 ■^ \k 
 
 US to the edge of a ravine with a clump of trees. Here 
 I parted from my companion, who continued his course 
 along the ravine, but I determined on a less circuitous 
 course, and at once struck up a steep ridge to the right, 
 studded with rock fragments and the burnt stumps of 
 trees ; and, after some little labour and exertion, I gained 
 the usual rugged, zigzag path of the ascent, at the base 
 of a steep wall of rock, where the very narrow cleft 
 opening at the summit first comes in view. As I ap- 
 proached this, the ascent became steeper and steeper, the 
 fragments of rock, in larger masses, piled in inconceivable 
 confusion. I only saw a small bird or two in the ascent. 
 At 7.30 a.m. I stood on the summit, having passed 
 through a narrow gorge or cleft, about a fathom wide, in 
 the perpendicular wall of rock, rising on either side to 
 the height of some sixty feet. I had been at the least 
 ten minutes on the top when my companion rejoined 
 me ; he having had to cross a ravine in his more cir- 
 cuitous route. We were, however, rewarded by a most 
 magnificent prospect. The vast plain on the summit is 
 three or four miles in circumference, and spread out 
 beneath lies Cape Town, with its quadrangular masses 
 of buildings and gardens ; beyond this the bay, with 
 some twenty or more sail of vessels. We walked all 
 round the summit, and had a fine view of B'alse Bay to 
 the southward, bounded on one side by Hang-lip Point, 
 and on the other by the hills of Simon's Bay. We 
 searched for a spring of water to wash down our slice 
 of cold meat and bread we had brought up with us for 
 breakfast, and found a very small pool beneath a large 
 mass of rock, just deep enough to fill a small basin from, 
 being only a few inches in circumference. Two small 
 finches, the only ones we saw, with a frog, were drinking 
 at the tiny spring, a sinister hawk hovering in the 
 distance. But none of the baboons, leopards, and rock- 
 rabbits, so much talked of, were seen by us. The surface 
 
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 of this plain is covered with tufts of large rushes, heaths, 
 and grasses ; in some spots the soil appears rich with 
 flowering plants ; in others, peat, elastic under the feet, 
 water-worn pebbles of beautiful white quaitz, form patches 
 of shingle, looking as if they had only just been upheaved 
 from the bed of the ocean. The sides are skirted in 
 places by sandstone ridges, intermingled with the pebbles 
 of quartz, and elevated above the plain. One large mass 
 here appeared poised on another, like the I.ogan Rock 
 of Cornwall. 
 
 At noon we commenced our descent from the cleft at 
 the top, following the path down to the ravine and Mill- 
 house. Then continuing along the watercourse, in which 
 a number of negresses, with here and there a mulatto, 
 were up to their knees, washing clothes. We reached the 
 town at two p.m., and after lunch, I left Cape Town at 
 4.30 p.m. for Simon's Town, twenty-three miles distant. 
 Returning in the chaise, called at the observatory, three 
 miles from Cape Town, where I met Lieutenant Wilmot, 
 our late messmate, whose quarters this will be for the 
 next three years. Reached Farmer Peck's at dark, about 
 7.30 p.m. Had a sandwich and glass of ale here, starting 
 again at 8.30 p.m., when we had a very intricate and 
 difficult navigation amongst the rocks and quicksands 
 in crossing the bays, it being high water. Into one of 
 these quicksands the wheels of the chaise sank to the 
 axletrees, and getting wedged between the rocks, with 
 surf breaking over all, the harness gave way, and the 
 horse had to be taken out before we could extricate the 
 wheels. Whilst setting my shoulder to them I lost a 
 gift gold ring from my finger in the surf. We had to 
 tow our crippled craft back to the " Clarence Inn " at 
 Simon's Town as best we could, arriving about midnight ; 
 so, being too late for a boat, we had to sleep at the inn, 
 and returned on board at eight on the following morning 
 in the whale-boat. 
 
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 44 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 Wednesday, April \st, — Having had an invitation from 
 the ward-room officers of the flagship Melville to dine 
 with them to-day, Captains Ross and Crozier, with the 
 second and third lieutenants of each ship, Lieutenant 
 Wilmot, R.A., and myself sat down to dinner with the 
 officers of the flagship, making in all a party of twenty- 
 
 one. 
 
 Friday, ^rd. — Myriads of shags or cormorants were 
 flying about the bay to-day in phalanxes extending the 
 whole length of the bay, all fishing, so much do these 
 waters abound in fish. 
 
 Monday, 6th. — We got under weigh in company with 
 the Terror, and beat out under cheers from the flagship, 
 which were returned by us. 
 
 Tuesday, 2\st. — As we approached the Marion Islands, 
 the weather became unsettled, the temperature much 
 lower, with boisterous and thick, hazy weather at intervals. 
 The sea here teems with oceanic birds : albatrosses, 
 petrels. Cape hens, and stormy petrels. At 1.30 p.m. I 
 saw Marion's Island, high conical hills rising from the 
 centre, and from these long, low points run out to sea- 
 ward, the whole having a volcanic appearance. A little 
 further on, we opened a small cove literally enamelled 
 with penguins; they were assembled here in thousands. 
 The slopes of the hills and long, low points presented a 
 verdant aspect. One hill looked as if clothed with a 
 reddish-brown moss. It was blowing too hard, with too 
 much surf on the beach for a boat to land, and at 4.30 p.m. 
 the ship was laid-to for the night, which was cloudy and 
 moonlight. 
 
 Wednesday, 22nd. — The weather still continuing 
 unfavourable, with a falling barometer, prevented our 
 landing, as intended, on Marion's Island, so we bore up 
 for the Crozets, going before the wind, without seeing 
 anything of Prince Edward's Island. 
 
 Sunday, 26th. — Two of the Crozets were passed early 
 
Possession Island, 
 
 45 
 
 in the morning watch, and unfortunately 1 missed seeing 
 them — a rare occurrence with me — and we continued on 
 our course for Possession Island. The weather for the 
 last few days has been misty, thick, and stormy, with 
 heavy gales. The ship under a close-reefed main-topsail, 
 and storm-staysails, rolled much in the heavy swell, quick 
 and deep, going before the wind. The air very keen and 
 chilly. The petrels were numerous, especially the small 
 blue one, and stormy petrel ; an albatross or two skimming 
 in the wake of the ship, and the first speckled Cape 
 pigeon seen. 
 
 Friday, May \st. — Beating up for the anchorage in 
 Possession Island, a beautiful, clear, sunny morning, after 
 the thick, very unfavourable weather we have had for the 
 last few days, with only occasional glimpses of the land, 
 half-hidden in mists, and the summits of the hills 
 sprinkled over with snow, as we beat up between the 
 high land of Easter Island and Possession Island. 
 Both islands have the appearance of volcanic origin. A 
 remarkable detached rock of hexagonal form, with 
 apparently a hole through it, stands isolated off the 
 north-west end. At 10.30 a.m. we hove-to ofT America 
 Bay, having observed a six-oared boat putting off from 
 the shore in answer to the signal-gun we had fired. We 
 brought out with us a chest of tea and some bags of 
 coffee for a seal-fishing party, fourteen in number, who 
 have been located on the island for about eighteen 
 months. These things had been sent from the Cape by 
 their employers, with a letter, the contents of which 
 seemed to disappoint the leader of the party, a fine, 
 intelligent, sailorlike-looking fellow, who evidently had 
 been anticipating a ship for their removal, instead of 
 fresh supplies for a prolonged stay on the island. 
 
 Captain Ross having made up his mind not to send a 
 boat on shore to these islands, we endeavoured to get 
 all the information we could from these poor sailors, 
 
 ■'• -k 
 
 ''■.■■J 
 
46 
 
 / 'oyages of Discovery. 
 
 V 
 
 \ I 
 
 
 whose sallow aspect was by no means diminished by their 
 unshaven beards, dirty guernsey-frocks, and woollen caps, 
 with stockin^less feet — except their manly-looking leader, 
 who was an ideal " Robinson Crusoe " in costume, with 
 his penguin-skin moccasins, and who answered all the 
 questions Captain Ross put to him with promptitude and 
 self-possession. FJe told us that a boat belonging to 
 them had been lost with all her crew off Easter Island in 
 the late gale, and on that island they had a party of eleven 
 or twelve men. Another boat had been washed off the 
 beach and lost. Their best fishing season, it appears, is 
 during the months of July, August, and September. 
 Whale-ships frequently visit the islands, the water being 
 so abundant and easily obtained, that loo tons may be 
 procured in a very short time. A large seal is found 
 here, probably similar to the Kerguelen's Land one, pen- 
 guins, and some goats. A small island to the westward 
 (Hog Island) is overrun with pigs, about seventy miles 
 distant. This bay he considers the best anchorage close 
 to the rocks in shore. The land at the head of the bay 
 forms a yellowish-green coloured valley of turf, flanked 
 by sloping hills and undulating ridges of the same colour; 
 a ledge of black rocks divides little America Bay from it 
 on the south, the whole having a background of lofty, 
 rugged mountains, having a dark-brown shade, and 
 sprinkled with snow. Many of the points and headlands 
 look like old castles or other ruins, so picturesquely arc; 
 they broken up. At a mile distant, the nearest approach 
 we made, the columnar basalt was very apparent, and a 
 lighter-looking rock, probably greenstone. There are 
 also two dykes and a watercourse. We learnt from the 
 leader of the sealing-party that he had been about eight 
 months in Christmas Harbour, Kerguelen's Land. Hav- 
 ing had a glass of grog each, they got their supplies into 
 their boat, and took their departure, and at eleven a.m. 
 we bore up, making all sail for Kerguelen's Land, run 
 
 ^ ii" 
 
At Anchor in C/iristmai Harbour, 
 
 47 
 
 ning between the two islands. I made sketches of both. 
 Easter Island presents a singular and remarkable appear- 
 ance, its dark mountain peaks, 3000 feet high, in strong 
 relief against the sky, towered above a belt of white clouds. 
 
 Thursday^ May ith. — At nine a.m. I first saw the high 
 hills of Cape Fran^'ois to windward, with here and there 
 a patch of snow on the summits, and a low-lying island 
 on the lee-bow. The air was cold and pinching, the 
 most severe we had hitherto felt, thermometer being 36°. 
 The north-west wind blew in heavy squalls, weather hazy, 
 with showers of sleet and snow, the blue sky only seen 
 at intervals. It was during such weather as this that 
 last evening we had a glimpse of the off-lying and 
 remarkable rock called Bligh's Cap. Numbers of 
 petrels and shags were flying about the ship. We were 
 all day beating up for Christmas Harbour, making short 
 tacks and little progress, so stood ol¥ the land for the 
 night. •' Old Tom," a cock brought out from England 
 with us, who, with a hen, was to have been left here to 
 colonize the island, died to-day, in the very sight of his 
 intended domain ; had his body committed to the deep 
 by the captain's steward — a sailor's grave. 
 
 Friday, %th. — Beating up all day for the land. At 
 two p.m. saw the Arched Rock, at the entrance to 
 Christmas Harbour. About four p.m. a barque was seen 
 from the masthead, supposed to be our consort, the 
 Terror, which we parted company with soon after leaving 
 the Cape. Fired a gun, and soon after dark sent up a 
 rocket as signals to her, and not being able to fetch the 
 harbour, stood off again for the night. 
 
 Monday, \ \th. — The last two days of blowing weather, 
 with the ship rolling in a heavy sea, little progress was 
 made; but on the morning of the 12th we found our- 
 selves to windward, and well in with the land. 
 
 Had to work up Christmas Harbour against a strong 
 breeze, and from the narrowness of the entrance com- 
 
 L|1 
 
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 [ iiii 
 
 
 i m-\ 
 
 48 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 pelled to make very short tacks, going about each time 
 close in shore, and after all had to let the anchor go, in 
 twenty-four fathoms, at 5.30 p.m., heavy squalls coming 
 ofT the high land. Inside Arched Point we passed some 
 fine cascades, and a remarkable white bird, about the 
 size of a common pigeon and shape of the Ptarmigan, 
 called the sheathbill {Chiouis vagiiinlis), which was 
 numerous on the rocks, seeking its pelagic food as it 
 leisurely walked along the ridges at the water's edge. 
 Some penguins were swimming about the harbour, and 
 black-backed gulls and tern flying overhead. At six p.m. 
 Captain Ross dined with us in the gun-room. 
 
 Thursday, 14;*// — The Terror anchored about a mile 
 above us yesterlay at noon. A number of spermaceti 
 whales were swimming about the bay to-day in groups of 
 three or four together, spouting and going down with the 
 tail uppermost. A pair of water-boots, with hose, were 
 served out to the officers and ship's company, and I 
 sketched the harbour all round. 
 
 [iligli's Cap. {Sec p(J'^r 47.) 
 
 I 
 
 k Wi 
 
 1., 
 
If, 
 
 Basalt, or Fossil Wood Mount. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 At Kerguelen's Island — My find of fossil-wood — Remarkable geologic .il 
 features — First boat's expedition for exploring Cumberland Bay — 
 Camping ashore — The Southern Cross — Exploration under diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 Friday, i ^ih. — At noon the Erebus was warped up the 
 harbour above the Terror, and at one p.m I landed in 
 the galley with the two captains, for the first time on 
 this, to me, most interesting island. This, and Spitz- 
 bergen, in the opposite hemisphere, constitute, I think, 
 the most striking and picturesque lands I have ever 
 had the good fortune to visit in a somewhat wide range 
 of wanderings over our globe from pole to pole. Yet 
 neither the Arctic nor Antarctic isles have tree or shrub 
 at the present time to enliven them. The largest arbo- 
 rescent form in Spitzbergen is the vvillow {Salix arciica), 
 crawling an inch or two above the surface of the ground ; 
 whilst in Kerguelen's Island, the famous cabbage 
 {Pringlea antiscorbuticd) peculiar to the island, attains 
 but a foot or two elevation above the soil. 
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 50 
 
 Voyo^s^es of Discovery 
 
 And yet whole forests, in the form of fossilized wood, 
 lie entombed here beneath vast lava streams ; in one 
 instance, a trunk of a tree, seven feet in circumference, 
 has been found buried beneath the d6hris of this truly 
 volcanic land. That singular and beautiful bird, too, so 
 fearless and confiding, the chionis, seems peculiar to 
 the island, to which its presence gives a charm and 
 animation, especially to a lover of the feathered race 
 like myself. The observatory is now being put upon the 
 beach at the top of the bay, in the north corner. I 
 crossed the isthmus, about a mile and a half over from 
 the top of the bay to the opposite side, passing two lakes, 
 soil boggy and swampy, the coast steep and precipitous. 
 Saw Bligh's Cap and two islands in the distance. The 
 weather squally, with very heavy gusts of wind, accom- 
 panied by drifting showers of sleet and hail, cutting to the 
 face. 1 shot my first teal, with which the island abounds ; 
 its favourite food, the seeds of the cabbage, now ripening. 
 I also shot, near the first lake, two brown-coloured 
 lestris and live penguins, from the beach. 
 
 Saturday, \6tlu — I landed, accompanied by Dr. 
 Hooker, on an excursion to the summit of the black 
 basaltic rock, ascending from the ridge at the south 
 corner of the beach along a boggy slope, down which 
 fell a cascade. Here I shot my first chionis, and cross- 
 ing over two ridges, forming a rugged platform, we 
 followed the west side of the base of the basaltic rock, 
 where I had the good fortune to discover the first trace 
 of the fossil-wood, a few 5:mall pieces, so weather-worn 
 that thi'y looked like the stem of a pipe from their 
 blanched appearance. These small relics of an age gone 
 by were loosely scattered on the surface, occupying a 
 space of not more than a foot or two of ground. I called 
 out to Hooker, who was within hailing distance of me 
 at the tiin(% to announce this unexpected discovery, and 
 laughingly observed that we should sooner have ex- 
 
 ».i 
 
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 > ( 
 
 Kergiielcn'' s Land. 
 
 51 
 
 pected to find on this spot the embers of a fire lighted 
 by our enterprising countryman and predecessor here, 
 the great navigator Captain Cook. On returning we 
 found larger fragments, in situ, beneath the black 
 rock, only a few feet above the talus of ddbris. Turn- 
 ing the flank of the mountain on the left, we ascended 
 by a pass between two rocks covered with ice and 
 snow to the summit, which we reached at 1.30 p.m., 
 passing by a trap-dyke, ten feet high, and embossed 
 with a beautiful lichen, tinted pale green and black, 
 intersecting the top in a S.K. and N.W. direction; 
 continuing our course along the summit, which was 
 strewed over with rock fragments, patches of snow, and 
 lichens. About a quarter of a mile brought us to the 
 opposite side, E.S.E., but the weather becoming so 
 tiiick and foggy, with small rain — a regular Scotch 
 mist — drifting in our faces, with the strong breeze blow- 
 ing without intermission, obscured all surrounding objects 
 even only a few yards off, and as the air was so keen and 
 cutting, we commenced o'lr return at two p.m., reached 
 the observatory at fou., and got on board in the dingy, 
 drenched to the sl..n, at six p.m., and ready for our 
 dinner. The vast and remarkable block of basalt 
 rises to 1000 feet above the harbour, resting on a 
 greenstone ridge, 600 feet in thickness, from which it 
 is separated by a thin bed of shale six feet, nearly 
 horizontal. 
 
 Monday, \8t/t. — At ten a.m. I landed on the south 
 side of th(; bay in the dingy, and returned on board in 
 her at three p.m., bringing with me two young sooty- 
 albatrosses from their nest. 
 
 Tuesday, \gth. — At ten a.m. I landed on the north sid(; 
 of the bay, and ascended the crater-shaped hill, 1200 
 feet above the bay ; at noon reached the summit, which 
 is cone-shaped, having a shallow lake, covered with ice 
 at the time, about thirty yards across from north to 
 
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 52 
 
 Voyas^cs of Discovery. 
 
 south, contracting in the centre to six yards, and occupy- 
 ing the depression on the summit, around which piles of 
 fragmentary and prismatic basalt rise on the east and 
 west sides to about fifty feet, sloping towards the north 
 and south, where gaps are left. Perfect basaltic columns, 
 some of them ten and twelve feet between the joints, are 
 inclined round the acclivity of the cone, and intermingled 
 with piles of broken fragments, exhibiting the same 
 prismatic structure, being generally in five or six-angled 
 prisms. At a deep gorge, six feet wide, on the north 
 side, these columns are most beautifully arranged in a 
 quaquaversal dip, the lake filling the oval depression. 
 The ice formed five-sided prisms on the surface, like the 
 rocks around it, and bore my weight, though the tem- 
 perature was 42°, and the sun shining. On breaking 
 the ice, and then sounding with the ramrod of my gun, 
 I found the bottom muddy, but the water was excellent. 
 The same kind of elegant lichen found on the black or 
 fossil-wood rock on the opposite side of the harbour exists 
 here. F*-om the south side of the summit I had a fine 
 view of Point Pringle, Cape Cumberland, and the "Sentry- 
 box," with the intervening bays, and immediately beneath 
 me the two ships in Christmas Harbour. My ascent 
 was from the east side, and I descended by the north 
 along a steep gorge, only six feet in width, formed by 
 ct)lumnar greenstone in hexagonal and five-sided pillars, 
 some twelve feet between the joints, beautifully fitted to 
 each oth(T. On reaching the ridge below, and pro- 
 ceeding in the direction of Cape Francois, I shot a chionis 
 and a brace of teal. Saw P>ligh's Cap and other islands 
 in the offing. At three p.m. I had to climb over a steep, 
 almost inaccessible wall of columnar greenstone, before 
 I could gain the summit of Cape Fran(;ois, dividing me 
 from Christmas Harbour. The horizon to windward 
 wore a very threatening aspect, and I had to hasten my 
 steps to avoid being benighted in the new course I had 
 
Cape Frani^ois. 
 
 5J 
 
 ; (■ 
 
 ird 
 
 m> 
 
 adopted for my return, along ground I was wholly un- 
 acquainted with. From the top of Cape Francois I had 
 a fine view of the Arched Rock, and the ships in the 
 harbour. Reached the landing-place at four p.m., and 
 got on board at 5.30. 
 
 Friday, 22nd. — This mornmg I volunteered to Captain 
 Ross to accompany an exploring party in one of t!ie 
 Terror's cutters up Cumberland Bay, to the weather side 
 of the island. Landed at noon. Found some very fine 
 specimens of the fossil-wood, and a bed of shale under- 
 lying the black or fossil-wood rock. Here I found two 
 young petrel in their nests ; shot two and a half brace 
 of teal and a tern, and returned on board at five p.m. 
 
 Saturday, 2yrd. — At ten a.m. I landed at the south 
 corner of the beach, and ascended the ridge of greenstone 
 on which the black mass of basalt rests, passing two 
 lakes, one 100 yards in length and sixty in width, on my 
 way to Arched Point, descending from the ridge of rocks 
 to a level plain of shingle and alluvium, bearing evidences 
 of having been recently covered with water. Another 
 hour's walk brought me to Arched Point, which I reached 
 at one p.m., crossing a saddle-like depression by v.hich 
 the ridge is united to the mainland, next proceeding over 
 a columnar wall of greenstone, beyond which the ridge 
 becomes level to the point, only strewed with a fragment 
 or two of rock. Immediately beneath me the Arched 
 I^ock itself appeared, connected with the point by a low, 
 narrow neck. Returned on board at five p.m. The day 
 had been squally, with light showers of snow, covering the 
 ground, and the drift in some of the hollows between the 
 inlls was tvvo or three feet in depth. At intervals, through 
 breaks in the clouds, the sun shone. I shot a gigantic 
 petrel, and at Arched Point a young black-backed gull 
 Hying overhead, where Foul Bay runs deeply in, its star- 
 board side extending out in a long, low spit. 
 
 Sunday, 24///. — At one p.m. a royal salute was fired 
 
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 54 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 from both ships in honour of her Majesty's birthday, and 
 divine service performed. Captain Crozier and the gun- 
 room officers of both ships dined with Captain Ross in 
 his cabin. Thirteen sat down to table. We had excel- 
 lent roast goose for dinner, a very agreeable change from 
 the penguin diet of late. Captain Ross said, at the 
 table, that Phillips, the second lieutenant of the Terror^ 
 and myself, with three men from each ship, were to form 
 the exploring party to the north-west coast. 
 
 Monday, 2^th. — Took one of our crew up with me to 
 Fossil-wood Hill, to assist me in disinterring with the 
 pickaxe the large fossil-tree I had discovered buried in 
 the ddbris there, and I brought on board the young 
 sooty-albatross. 
 
 Tuesday, 26th. — After skinning some birds, I landed 
 at 1.30 p.m., and asked Captain Ross for two hands to 
 go with me up the hill to dislodge the large tree, when, 
 having done so, it proved too heavy, silicified as it was, 
 for the strength of the two men to bring down the pre- 
 cipitous ridge, consequently we returned with a smaller 
 one, and some loose specimens. 
 
 Saturday, n,oth.- \fter three stormy days I went on 
 shore about lu on, shot a black-backed gull from the 
 dingy, and a shag at the landing-place. Called on 
 Captain Ross at the observatory, and made an excursion 
 along the soiLth side of the harbour to the w iterfall, 
 round the point. Shot tw^ chionis, two gigantic petrel, 
 two shags, and a teal, flying round the point. 
 
 Monday, June 1st. — Phillips came on board, and told 
 me that we were to start on our exploring expedition to- 
 morrow, when, Captains Ross and Crozier coming on 
 board, I returned on shore with them. The latter offert d 
 to accompany me in my asceni of the Black Rock, to see 
 the tree before I removed it, Captain Ross having given 
 me his own gig's crew of five hands for the purpose. 
 When we had arrived near the spot, there was an 
 
 ^14.^. 
 
Discovery of a Fossil Tree. 
 
 55 
 
 extremely narrow ledj^c on the perpendicular face of a 
 rock, barely wide enough for the feet, or rather the toes, 
 to cling to. Captain Crozier, being a somewhat heavy 
 man, seemed rather nervous about venturing across, but, 
 following in my footsteps, who had been so often over it 
 in my previous visit to the fossil-tree and the ddbris, gave 
 him confidence, and tided him over. 
 
 Tuesday, jfiuie 2nd. — I left the ship with two seamen, 
 Fawcett and Marshall, and Barker, a marine, to join my 
 colleague, Lieutenant Phillips, of the Terror ; and after 
 breakfasting in the gun-room of that ship, we all started 
 together in the cutter at 6.30 a.m., my companion having 
 with him also three able seamen from his own ship. The 
 morning was fine and clear, the stars shining brightly, with 
 a light breeze. At seven a.m. we passed the Arched 
 Rock and a flo^k of the little petrel ; these birds, though 
 belonging to so different a family, bear the most striking 
 resemblance to the little auk {Alca alle) of the opposite 
 Polar regions, both in size, form, colour, mode of flight, 
 and general habits. The main distinction is the tubular 
 nostrils on the upper mandible, which characterize the 
 whole petrel tribe. Several, also, of the gigantic petrel 
 [Procellaria gigaiitca) were sailing about and skimming 
 the surface of the sea. Having passed the openings to 
 the two large bays between Arched Point and Cape 
 Cumberland, both having a background of high land, we 
 lay on our oars to take some compass bearings of the head- 
 land, within a cable's length of the shore, a low and rugged 
 black ledge of rocks, the sea breaking on them, and full of 
 chionis and shags. At 8.30 again out oars, and pulled 
 to Cape Cumberland. An isolated rock, named the 
 " Sentry-box," from its form as well as position, fronts the 
 opening to the bay, which at 840 a.m. we made sail up, 
 the change in our course making the wind favourable. 
 After passing some drifting thin ice, we noticed what 
 appeared to be inlets on either side of the bay. At 
 
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 56 
 
 yoyai^es of Discovery. 
 
 .\| 
 
 1 1.30 a.m. landed on a green bank on the port side, and 
 whilst my colleague was getting a meridian altitude of 
 the sun, I crossed over a ridge of rocks to examine the 
 extent of the inlet higher up, which I soon found formed 
 a snug bay, considerably more than a mile in depth, and 
 about as much in breadth, the entrance being about one- 
 third of a mile, bounded on either side by a ridge of hills, 
 700 to 800 feet high, forming terraces of columnar green- 
 stone, with embedded crystals of quartz, forming large, 
 drusy cavities. 1 picked up some beautiful crystals, 
 scattered about the rocks. 
 
 After taking a hasty outline of the bay, with a set of 
 compass bearings, from the spot where I stood on the 
 eastern side, I returned to the boat, and at i.io p.m. 
 we shoved off, and when outside I took another sketch of 
 the entrance to it. Its distance is six and a half miles 
 from the " Sentry-box." At two p.m. we hauled the boat 
 alongside a ridge of rocks, separated from the main shore 
 by a narrow channel. Here I shot a brace of teal ; and 
 we had our dinner, starting again at 2.45 p.m., passing 
 through much seaweed and small stream ice, very thin. 
 Noticed some two or three small recesses in the coast-line 
 on the south side of the bay. We were accompanied 
 by numerous shags hovering over the boat as we pulled 
 up the bay, so much was their curiosity excited by our 
 intrusion on their usual solitude that we expected every 
 minute to see them alight in the boat, as with outspread 
 wings and drooping feet, with their long necks twisted 
 round, they looked down upon us with prying gaze, so 
 near that the boat's crew knocked down several with their 
 oars for soup. At five p.m. we hauled the boat up on 
 a sandy beach at the top of the bay, which we found to 
 be twelve and a half miles in depth, with an average 
 breadth of about two miles. Having secured the boat 
 above high-water mark, and made all snug for the night, 
 at seven p.m. we had a hot supper of teal, and the 
 
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 Explori)ig Cumberland Bay. 
 
 57 
 
 white bird, chionis, followt-d by a cup of tea at nine, and 
 tlun turned into our blanket-bags, amid tht; distant 
 rearing of the sea outside the isthmus, indicating our 
 close proximity to the opposite coast, the main object 
 of our expedition. 
 
 I''iir o'er our heads the cross appears on Iiigh, 
 On waves of ether borne in the blue sky ; 
 Magellan's clouds, and the black coal-sack near, 
 'I'hat wondrous void, in which no stars appear. 
 
 Magellan's great cloud like a casket seems, 
 As witli the brightest gems it teems ; 
 And colour'd suns, of every size and hue. 
 Only the telescope brings into view. 
 
 Here, as the " Southern Cross " appears to us in the 
 zenith, the four stars of which it is composed have a 
 position nearly parallel with the horizon, the smallest star 
 being uppermost, and to the right the largest, a star of 
 the first magnitude beneath it, the two others of the 
 second magnitude forming the left side of the " Cross." 
 This constellation, indeed, itself constitutes the " Pole 
 Star" of the southern heavens, there being no single star 
 correspondentwith the" Pole Star" of ourown hemisphere. 
 Below the cross the two fine stars of the " Centaur," 
 stars of the first magnitude, shine with the greatest 
 brilliancy, looking like pointers to the " Southern Cross." 
 The brightest of them, Alpha Centauri, is remarkable, 
 not only as being the nearest of the fixed stars to us, and 
 yet so distant that it takes above three years for a ray of 
 its light to reach us, but it is also one of the double stars, 
 consisting of two suns revolving round each other in an 
 orbit so elongated as to occupy above seventy-eight 
 years in the period of its revolution. These suns are of 
 an orange-yellow colour. 
 
 In the course of the precession of the equinoxes — said 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 pletion of the circuit of the heavens — the star "Vega," 
 in the constellation of " Lyra," will in some 12,000 years 
 have become the " Pole Star " of the northern hemisphere ; 
 when " Canopus," in the southern hemisphere, will take the 
 place of the " Cross " in the Antarctic heavens as the 
 " Pole Star." 
 
 The four stars of the " Southern Cross " are them- 
 selves said to be moving in contrary directions, and with 
 unequal velocities, so that this constellation, if such be 
 the case, will not always retain its present form. The 
 " Coal-sack," a pear-shaped, black void in space, situated 
 near the " Cross," has only one small star visible to the 
 naked eye ; yet the great white " Cloud of Magellan " 
 {^Nubecula major) under the telescope unfolds to view a 
 rich group of coloured stars, of extreme beauty, clustered 
 round the star " Kappa," a deep red, central one, amid 
 others of varied shades of blue and green, studding the 
 depths of space with brilliant gems of every hue. 
 
 Should these far-distant suns have planets revolving 
 round them like our own sun, what varied and beautiful 
 coloured days must result from these primary colours, 
 some days perhaps red, others blue or green, or a neutral 
 tint from a combination of these. How wonderful is 
 that abyss of space, through which it is thought our own 
 sun is revolving round some other vast and central unseen 
 orb, at a velocity of four miles a second, in the direction 
 of the constellation '' Hercules," towards a point (Alcy- 
 one) in the heavens, in which the " Pleiades " becomes 
 the centre of the movement of revolution of the solar 
 system. 
 
 Wednesday, yd. — We turned the boat bottom up- 
 wards, stowing our things beneath it, and at 8.30 a.m. 
 set out upon our journey across the isthmus for the 
 opposite coast. Our course lay over low, rocky ridges, 
 by several lakes, and a remarkable stone resting on 
 a tripod of three smaller ones. I shot three teal at 
 
 4! 
 
 (■» 
 
Crossing the Isthmus to opposite Shore. 
 
 59 
 
 the lakes, and at 10.30 a.m. we came in sight of the sea, 
 on climbing over a steep rock to the left of a deep 
 chasm, when a fine view all at once opened upon us — 
 a bold, black, snow-clad headland, and small iceberg 
 lying off it. Our course to the westward now lay over 
 a steep boggy slope of soft, spongy soil, clothed with 
 a spreading, tufted plant, like a covering of moss, on the 
 dibris at the base of a mountain-range of greenstone, 
 which flanked it on one side, and the sea on the other. 
 Cascades of water poured down the almost perpendi- 
 cular wall of columnar greenstone, intersecting the bog 
 beneath by numerous and deep watercourses. These 
 rendered the whole of our journey very laborious, sinking 
 up to the knees at every step, encumbered, too, as we 
 were by our heavy knapsacks and blanket-bags, for sleep- 
 ing in, strapped to our backs. At noon we rested on the 
 bog to dine, during which I took the opportunity for 
 ascending the columnar ridge above us at a spot where 
 it appeared to be accessible. But just as I had reached 
 the summit, the weather became thick and overcast with 
 rain, depriving me of a sight of the inlet in advance of 
 us. After descending and taking a hasty lunch, we 
 started again at one p.m., but soon found that the work 
 was too heavy and toilsome for our party to proceed any 
 further with their heavy baggage. 
 
 We therefore halted at a waterfall, and I proposed 
 taking the youngest and most active man of our party 
 with me to explore the inlet, leaving our knapsacks with 
 the rest of the party in charge of Lieutenant Phillips. 
 Accompanied by Marshall, I managed to reach the 
 entrance to the inlet, about a mile distant. Here the high 
 rocky cliffs on its left above the low black rocky point on 
 which we stood, and on which the surf was heavily break- 
 ing, prevented us rounding the angle so as to ascertain 
 to what extent the inlet ran up inland. The rain now 
 increasing, with the wind coming in heavy gusts, and 
 
 i 
 
 
If" 
 
 60 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 \ 'I 
 
 with night approaching we returned to where we had 
 left our party, after crossing some heavy torrents rushing 
 down the steep slope to the sea. It took us an hour to 
 get over two miles of ground. 
 
 At 3.30 p.m. the whole party resumed their knapsacks 
 and bore up for the boat, but the night closing in upon 
 us with wind and rain, which swelled the heavy torrents 
 we had to cross, compelled us to pitch our tent soon 
 after dark, at the base of a black, craggy rock, on the 
 margin of a large lake, a cascade falling on the right. 
 The ground being wet shingle, we paved the interior of 
 the tent with fragments of rock, and, laying our wet 
 clothes beneath us, got into our blanket-bags. The night 
 was wet and gloomy, and the lake, flooded by the rains, 
 rose within a foot of our tent, the inside of which became 
 an atmosphere of steam from our wet clothes. 
 
 Thursday, t\tli. — We rose at daylight, struck the tent, 
 and continued our jouiney, ascending the steep path 
 between the rocks on our right, and somewhat changed 
 our course back. The weather cloudy and gloomy, but 
 without rain. The rocks here contained numerous drusy 
 cavities of fine crystallized quartz, of which I picked up 
 several specimens. In crossing some streams of water 
 down a deep descent in the rocks, our men missed us, 
 and, having taken a more direct course, reached the boat 
 first, whilst my colleague and myself went round a point 
 to the eastward and came upon the beach below the 
 boat. Here he and I also separated, as I followed up 
 the windings of the shore, picking up shells and seaweed, 
 and reached the boat about one p.m., having to wade 
 through the water round a rocky point to the cove where 
 the boat was hauled up. Here I met Barker, our marine, 
 chasing the white birds with a boarding-pike. The shags 
 were flying round us in great numbers, as if they were 
 welcoming our return, for they seem to be very sociable 
 birds. Having changed our wet clothes and dined, we 
 launched the boat on our return-voyage down Cumber- 
 
Campiiig out. 
 
 61 
 
 land Ray. Passed a smooth, curious-looking hill with a 
 gently undulating outline, and having a somewhat 
 marbled appearance in the distance, so different in 
 aspect to the surrounding basaltic and rough-broken 
 greenstone ridges, between which this, and many more 
 we saw on our way down, emerged in isolated cones, and 
 proved, on examination, to be phonolite or clinkstone. 
 
 At 3.45 p.m. we landed upon a shingly beach, on the 
 east side of North Bay, and I walked for about half a 
 mile to have a close examination of one of those round, 
 conical hills, presenting so remarkable an appearance in 
 the distance, the whole hill being a pile of laminated 
 foliaceous fragments of phonolite. Some of the speci- 
 mens I picked up were most singularly marked by what 
 had the appearance of sea-weed impressions, the red 
 colour of the markings on the light greyish surface of the 
 clinkstone, or, rather, yellowish ground, were very striking, 
 and were probably owing to an oxide of iron. On the 
 opposite side of this bay is another of these isolated 
 masses protruding through a greenstone range of hills, 
 looking like a smooth, light-coloured marble saddle as it 
 appeared between the dark trappean rocks enclosing it. 
 At 3.10 p.m. we shoved off from the beach, crossing 
 Cumberland Bay to our small b.iy on the south side, 
 which we named South or Duck Bay, from the number 
 of teal we met with there. But the night being very 
 dark for finding a suitable place for hauling up the boat, 
 we anchored her for the night off a strip of beach in the 
 south-west corner of the bay at 6.40 p.m., and had our 
 supper of stewed birds, made with teal, chionis, and 
 shags ; then spread the boat's awning, and after having 
 had a cup of tea, at 9.30 p.m., we turned into our blanket- 
 bags for the night, which came on wet and stormy, 
 ending in such violent gusts of wind that before the night 
 was half spent we were compelled to lower the awning, 
 which had been pressed inwards by a heavy fall of snow 
 succeeding the rain. The air was cold and pinching, the 
 
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 62 
 
 Voyages of Discoz'i'jy, 
 
 bottom of the boat wet, and we had now no other cover- 
 ing than what our blanket-bags afforded us stretched out 
 on the thwarts of the boat. 
 
 Friday^ ^th. — After a hasty breakfast of cocoa and 
 cold tongue, we got the anchor up, and at nine a.m. 
 pulled up the south-west creek, landing on a fine sandy 
 beach on the starboard side. I then proceeded up a 
 valley, intersected by pools of water, bounded on either 
 side by a lofty ridge of hills. I shot a beautifully- 
 marked male teal from a flock flying over the lake, 
 into which it fell, but I succeeded in getting it, and in 
 the boat skinned it for my collection. Near this spot a 
 very curious bank rises a few feet from the ground, of a 
 rich black soil, with a bright-green covering of grass and 
 moss, which at a distance presented the appearance of a 
 small enclosure or garden on which the snow had fallen. 
 When on it, fancy might liken it to the deck of a ship in 
 shape, with a hollow bowl at one extremity. A little 
 further on I shot a brace of teal at one shot. They had 
 been feeding on the seed of the cabbage near a stream 
 of water, the ground being here very swampy, with some 
 scattered rocks. When about two miles from the boat, I 
 reached the margin of a fine lake, having a smooth level 
 beach of sand and shingle in front ; and the dark green of 
 the water at first gave some hope that it might have 
 been an arm of the sea ; but, on tasting the water, its 
 freshness soon dissipated the delusic^. It is bounded 
 on either side by a lofty range of trappean hills, rising to 
 2000 feet in height. The length of this lake is a mile 
 and a half, by half a mile in breadth. At the right-hand 
 comer of the beach a large mass of rock and moss- 
 covered debrh at the foot of the mountain enabled me, 
 by ascending it, to examine the rocks in situ, which I 
 found were composed of greenstone and amygdaloid. 
 Here I encountered a heavy storm of hail and snow, 
 drifting before a strong breeze, and at noon I beat a 
 retreat for the boat, and reached it at 12.40 p.m., shoot- 
 
Adventures by the way. 
 
 63 
 
 ing another teal on "he way back. After a dinner of 
 pea-soup and pork made sail down the bay in the boat, 
 but, on reaching Cape Cumberland, the sky wore such a 
 threatening aspect to windward, that we bore up for the 
 top of the bay again. I shot a fine specimen of the 
 black-backed gull {Lariis vtan'ntis), and at four p.m. 
 hauled up the boat on a fine sandy beach, under a rock 
 which juts out in the form of a promontory about the 
 centre of the head of the bay. I walked along the 
 naiTow bank of sand to the end of the beach, where 
 a stream enters the bay. For nearly a mile inland is 
 a low, level plain of sand, and intersected by wr»ter- 
 rourscs in various directions, coming down from the hills 
 above. Beyond this plain, to the south, is a succession 
 of ridges, bounded on the east and west by hill-ranges, 
 between which, in all probability, an opening to White Bay 
 on the south exists. I returned to the boat at ^.'\o n.m. 
 The rock on the west side of it is composed of greenstone, 
 veined with quartz. Here I shot a chionis. Had tea, fol- 
 lowed by bird-soup, for supper, and turned in at nine p.m. 
 Saturday, 6ih. — After breakfast, whilst the boat was 
 getting ready, I rambled over the south ridges for some 
 two miles, and, had my time permitted me to have con- 
 tinued, doubtless I should have come upon the sea. I shot 
 a teal, and '•eturned to the boat at 11.30 a.m. Had a 
 fair wind blowing fresh, which carried us down and out 
 of Cumberland Bay. At 1.15 p.m. we were off Cape 
 Cumberland, using oars and sails alternately from the 
 Cape to Arched Point, and notwithstanding which, from 
 the bad weather-qualities of the cutter as a sea-boat, we 
 were drifted so much to leeward, that had the breeze 
 been stronger we should not have fetched Chnstmas 
 Harbour. Chionis and shags lined the rocks along the 
 coast as we passed. When about a mile from the land 
 we fe'l in with one of the largest seals, wounded and 
 bleeding from one eye. It must have received the 
 wound in Christmas Harbour, and to put an end to his 
 
64 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 f fii' 'i . 
 
 »': 
 
 sufferings I put a ball through his head from my old 
 double-barrel, and we passed a noose of rope over his 
 head, but, it slipping off, we had no time to lose, and left 
 him floundering in his last struggles. As we passed the 
 Arched Rock I shot a brace of chionis from the boat, 
 and landed to pick them up. As there was much swell 
 and serf on the rocks, Phillips remained in the boat with 
 her crew, lying on their oars at a distance, whilst I 
 retrieved my game, and shot a teal on the rocks, till I 
 returned in about half an hour. Having ascended the 
 dihris within the arch, and found some remarkable speci- 
 mens of the fossil wood, with the rugged bark very 
 distinct, and having a rugose and twisted appearance, 
 charred in some portions, but generally very ponderous 
 from silicification — one beautiful fragment, a perfect sec- 
 tion of a large branch, I found embedded inside the 
 arch, and projecting from the wall of massive basalt or 
 lava, at about six feet from the ground — I measured the 
 span of the arch over the uneven surface of the debris, 
 making it about thirty-six paces. Returned round the 
 narrow low neck dividing the arch from the point. 
 Several chionis were leisurely, as usual with them, walking 
 about it. After shoving off in the boat we hailed the 
 ship in passing at four p.m., and finding Captain Ross 
 on shore, pulled to the observatory to report our return, 
 and on board afterwards. 
 
 Two bearings of Sentry-box, entranre of Cumberland Hay. 
 {Scepaj^e 55.) 
 
 -,' ! 
 
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 Remarkable I'honolitc Hill in North Day, Cumberland IJay. 
 {See pa lie 72.) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Second boat-expedition — Arched Rock — Penguin Cove — Ornithological 
 and botanical specimens— Our bird-soups — A large cabbage — 
 CJregson Hay discovered — A hard day's work — Clinkstone Hill — 
 A dangerous adventure in search of teal for our larder — A tem- 
 pestuous night. 
 
 SmidaVy 'jth. — Captain Ross told me to-day that we 
 were to start again on Tuesday, the 9th, on a second 
 exploratory expedition to Cumberland Bay. At four p.m. 
 I dined on board the Terror with my late colleague in 
 the boat-voyage, Phillips, and returned on board at 
 8.30 p.m. It is intended to send a boat from each ship 
 up White Bay to-morrow under the charge of the first 
 lieutenant of the Erebus. 
 
 Tuesday, 9///. — Blowing too hard for us to start to-day, 
 and our own first lieutenant, who, I have very good 
 reasons for thinking, does not much relish the nature of 
 the service his chief has nominated him for, nor the state 
 of the weather either, has gone upon the sick-list. I had 
 to land in the galley before breakfast, and through a 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
 1 tj 
 
66 
 
 Foya^cs of Discovery. 
 
 heavy surf, to report him in the list to Captain Ross at 
 the observatory. I had a delicate duty to perform, it 
 must be confessed, and it put all my ideas of nosology to 
 the test, and racked my brain to find a suitable term 
 under which I could enter the indisposition of this martyr 
 to science in my sick-book. 
 
 Saturday, \2t^li. — Employed in skinning birds, and 
 had three boxes and two haversacks made for my boat- 
 voyage. 
 
 Tuesday, June \6th. — The weather moderating some- 
 what, my former boat-companion, Lieutenant Phillips, 
 called alongside for me in the Terror cutter at 9.15 a.m., 
 our boat's crew being the same as before. Soon after 
 we had shoved off from the ship, my companion dis- 
 covered that he had forgotten his sextant, which we had 
 to put back for. when at 9.30 a.m. we made sail out of 
 the harbour ; weather still gloomy and threatening, rain 
 with a good deal of swell outside the Arched Point. 
 On rounding Cape Cumberland at 10.45 ^•'^- the wind 
 had freshened, and the sky to windward wore a black 
 and ominous aspect, we had to lower the sail, get out 
 the oars, and pull against a head-wind up the bay, 
 our progress much obstructed by a quantity of seaweed 
 lining the shore on the starboard side. After buffeting 
 with the breeze till we had got about half a mile within 
 the bay, we were left to the alternative of either drifting 
 out to sea or risk getting the boat knocked to pieces in 
 the surf on the rocks, by attempting to get her into a 
 small rocky bend or indentation, just within Cape Cum- 
 berland, where we had noticed a small cave within a 
 projecting mass of black rock, although a considerable 
 swell set in upon the ledge of rocks. VVe fortunately 
 succeeded, after getting everything out of the boat to 
 lighten her, in hauling her over this bar without being 
 stove. But had it not been high-water at the time, aided 
 by a quantity of seaweed hanging from the rocks, we 
 
 *). 
 
Night bivouac y Ctimbcrland Corner, 
 
 67 
 
 could not have succeeded. It was p-^st midday when 
 we had secured the boat on a narrow platform at the 
 base of the hi^h overhanging cliff. On our right was 
 a watercourse down a green bank, up which I ascended 
 with my gun in search of some teal, chionis, and tern I 
 had seen. At two p.m. I crossed a spongy bog, inter- 
 sected by numerous streams and falls from the hills 
 above, for a distance of about a mile and a half. 
 
 I found the teal more abundant here than in any other 
 place hitherto visited, having shot six and a half brace, 
 two at a shot four times. The white chionis were also 
 walking about the bog in great numbers, and I could 
 have shot any number of them. There was also a small 
 colony of penguins on the coast-ledges ; a drizzling rain 
 fell most of tlie afternoon. I returned to the boat at 
 five p.m. The full moon sent its feeble rays through a 
 break in the clouds, a star or two becoming visible. The 
 shadowy, indistinct outline of the boat, as it appeared 
 through the gloom under the shadow of the rocks, with 
 its streak of light issuing from the triangular opening in 
 the awning amidships, gave a momentary relief to the 
 wild solitude of the scene, and to the feelings of one 
 alone and drenched to the skin as I was, in approaching 
 my place of bivouac for the night, and shelter from the 
 boisterous elements. We enjoy most things in this life 
 by comparison, and through sudden contrasts in our 
 circumstances. For after changing my wet clothes, and 
 having had a dinner of preserved meat and a supper of 
 stewed chionis, I turned into my blanket-bag in the 
 stern-sheets of the boat with a feeling of satisfaction, and 
 1 might venture to add, comfort not always experienced 
 in the downy feather-bed on its ample four-poster. 
 
 Wednesday^ \']th. — Being weather-bound in our not 
 very cosy corner here, at eleven a.m. I started on another 
 ramble over the bog, and saw Arched Rock Point in the 
 distance. I shot two and a half brace more teal, and, on 
 
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 ! I 
 
 68 
 
 Voyajrcs of Discovery. 
 
 my return to the boat at one, had some stewed for dinner, 
 and plum-pudding I had brought with me from the ship. 
 At three p.m. I started on yet another excursion, over 
 the hill and the bog to Penguin Cove, where I caught a 
 fine penguin, the leader of a batch of twenty-two others, 
 and shot another brace of teal. Here I picked up some 
 beautiful specimens of moss. I heard a chirping sound 
 issuing from a hole in the bank near a watercourse, 
 evidently produced by some nocturnal petrel, for it 
 became silent on my approach to its subterranean abode. 
 I did not get back to the boat till after dark, through a 
 heavy hail-storm, for the afternoon had been very stormy. 
 As I was descending the hill to the boat, a tern flying 
 overhead made known its vicinity by its cry on being 
 disturbed, and to which it fell a victim; I shot it, needing 
 specimens both for the collection and the pot. I reached 
 the boat at 5.45 p.m., and from nine to midnight was 
 busily employed skinning and preserving the penguin 
 and tern, and noting down the occurrences of the day. 
 
 Thursday, \8t/i. — The weather having moderated this 
 morning, we struck the awning, got everything out of 
 the boat, and, after no small labour, at 9.30 a.m. launched 
 her over the rocky ridge at near low water; when a 
 breeze springing up from seaward, we made sail up the 
 bay. At 10.15 off Black Rock Cove, at 11.30 a.m. 
 passed South Bay, and soon afterwards those remarkable- 
 looking phonolite hills, erupted between the fissures of 
 the greenstone range, with their smooth, rounded, pictu- 
 resque summits, and light shade of colour, contrasting so 
 strikingly with the dark trappean rocks. We sailed 
 round the small bay in which these hills are mostly 
 located ; met with a great number of shags here, and a 
 few small petrel. A freshening breeze carried us to the 
 highest part of Cumberland Bay, which, after first con- 
 tracting itself, expands into a basin at the upper end. 
 In attempting to beach the boat on a sandy beach at 
 
A /ari^c Cabbas^c. 
 
 69 
 
 the starboard corner, we grounded in shallow water, and 
 with the luff-tackles had to haul her up on the left above 
 high-water mark, in a pelting hail-stonn, driven by a 
 heavy gale, which in sudden gusts blew up the bay. We 
 at last, at one p.m., effected a landing. Whilst I was 
 sounding for the depth of water, in getting into the boat 
 again, the ramrod of my favourite old gun fell overboard 
 in a fathom of water. We had some penguin-soup for 
 dinner, which the cook for the day had spoilt by making 
 it into a complete paste with flour, and it was five p.m. 
 before we had completed our arrangements for the night. 
 
 I saw here a remarkable instance of the power of the 
 native cabbage to withstand the effi-cts of salt-water, 
 apparently without sustaining any injury. A row of the 
 very finest and largest of these plants, growing just 
 above the ordinary high-water mark, about two feet iij 
 height, with stout stems bearing the scars from which 
 former leaves had dropped off, and indicative of age, * 
 now appeared on the very spot of the sandy beach where 
 we landed, half-submerged, as if growing out of the sea, 
 from the unusually high tide, occasioned by the strong 
 southerly gale blowing up the bay. This with the hail 
 and snow-storms foreboded a boisterous night. 
 
 Friday t \gtli. — My ramrod, I am glad to say, was 
 found this morning in about a foot of water. Having 
 made a hasty breakfast of cold tongue and cocoa, at 
 9.30 a.m. we made another start for the weather coast 
 by a somewhat different route to our former one. Leaving 
 our things under the boat capsized, we passed by a 
 watercourse down a greenstone hill, where I found some 
 stray fragments of coal and lignite scattered amongst 
 the ligneous ddbris. At 11. 15 a.m. we again came in 
 sight of the sea through a gap in the rocks ; and on 
 rounding these we passed the margin of the lake where 
 we encamped in the first expedition. Then continuing 
 our course through the valley by streams of water till we 
 
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 70 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 reached the ridge above the bogs, we now ascended 
 the former instead of proceeding along the latter low 
 ground, till wo arrived at the inlet at 12.30 p.m., and 
 which had cut off my further progress last time. Being 
 myself much ahead of the rest of the party, I had time 
 to make a hasty sketch, and take the bearings of ♦he 
 bay whilst awaiting their arrival. Found the bay, which 
 I have named aft(;r an old friend, the late Mr. Gregson 
 of Risdon, Tasmania — Gregson Bay — to be about two 
 miles in length by one in breadth, bounded by a range 
 of rugged hills, highest at the sides and lowest at the 
 upper end, presenting a picturesque outline. The hill 
 from which about two-thirds up I took my sketch, is, 
 perhaps, the highest, and about 1500 feet above the bay; 
 some low ledges of black rocks stud the entrance. At 
 1.30 p.m. I descended by a steep pass from the extremity 
 of the ridge to the bog beneath, where we picked up the 
 cache of a week's allowance of provisions, biscuits, pre- 
 served meat cases, and rum, we had to leave behind 
 us in our former excursion, with a boarding-pike left as a 
 mark to the spot. Here I shot two and a half brace of 
 teal, and at 3.30 p.m. we commenced our return to the 
 boat ; blowing hard with sleet. Had to ascend a steep 
 and broad watercourse, which was studded with large 
 fragments of igneous rocks, down which rushed a rapid 
 torrent ; and on reaching the lower grounds had to 
 wade through two deep streams. The snow was in 
 many spots knee-deep. Finding the extra weight of the 
 cache too much for our men to get down to the boat, we 
 deposited it unuer a rock ; and, as we approached the 
 the top of Cumberland Bay, we passed another of the 
 phonolite hills, and descended a steep watercourse to 
 the beach, reached our boat at 7.45 p.m. Our poor 
 fellows were thoroughly worn out and wearied with the 
 hardest day's work we have hitherto had ; and my worthy, 
 staunch, persevering associate, Lieutenant Phillips, once 
 
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 Gregson Bay discovered. 
 
 71 
 
 got himself so embedded to the hips in a watercourse 
 of the spongy bog, that he could not extricate himself 
 till the cumbersome knapsack was unbuckled and re- 
 moved from his shoulders ; I happened to come up just 
 in time to aid him. On more than one occasion I had 
 myself slipped down the deep snow and ice, where inter- 
 mingled with the rapidly-falling torrent, obstructed in 
 its course by the steep and rugged rocks, and had nc 
 slight difficulty in extricating myself. Having changed 
 our wet clothes, and lighted a fire in the boat's stove, we 
 had some of the teal I shot on the bog roasted for 
 supper, with plum-pudding, followed by tea, and turned 
 into our blanket-bags at eleven p.m ; but the gusts of 
 wind came so heavy that the boat reeled on her supports, 
 with the awning filled and pressed down upon us by the 
 weight of the incumbent snow, threatening every minute 
 to capsize her. 
 
 Saturday, 20th. — We sent four of our boat's crew to 
 bring back the cache of provisions left at the bog. I 
 skinned a penguin in the forenoon ; and at one p.m. took 
 my gun for a stroll along the beach, and shot three and 
 a half brace of teal, returning to the boat at three p.m. 
 Had roast and stewed teal for dinner. Started again at 
 four p.m. along the beach to the creek ; shot three more 
 teal, two at one shot, and returned at 5.45 p.m. I tasted 
 some of the stewed mussels to-day, and although I have 
 no taste for shell-fish, found them remarkably well- 
 flavoured and of large size ; they abound in the rocks about 
 the bay. Had tea at eight p.m., and afterwards skinned 
 and preserved two teal, and turned in at 10.30 p.m. 
 
 Sunday, 2\st. — Rose at eight a.m., and after breakfast 
 launched the boat on our return down Cumberland Bay, 
 and, before I left, pulled up the finest of the large cab- 
 bages from the phalanx, a little forest in miniature, which 
 at high water-mark flanked the top of the bay. From 
 the appearance of its rugose, knotted stem, and being a 
 
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SKS 
 
 72 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 .^r 
 
 perennial, it would seem to have braved the storms and 
 lashings of the sea at every high tide, throughout a 
 somewhat prolonged term of existence. I placed it in 
 the stern-sheets of the boat for preservation, as the 
 largest specimen I have met with in the island, and still 
 have it in my collection ; indeed, it was the largest plant 
 of any kind met with. At 10.45 'i-"^- we commenced 
 our homeward voyage down the bay, sounding with the 
 lead-line as we proceeded. At noon I landed at a slight 
 indentation of the greenstone range, assuming the co- 
 lumnar form opposite the hills of phonolite on the south 
 side. After crossing over a swampy level, strewed with 
 foliated fragments of clinkstone, I ascended the hill on 
 the right, and went over the whole length of the summit 
 of the ridge to the swampy plain below, about a mile 
 from the boat, which I reached at two p.m. 
 
 This hill of clinkstone emerges from the greenstone 
 range of hills, 700 or 800 feet in height, and from which 
 it is separated by a ravine, and itself attains a height of 
 300 feet, having a north and south direction. Four and 
 six-sided, or hexagon?' columns of the phonolite, in 
 places, emerge from the confused heap of broken schis- 
 tose fragments with which the mountain is for the most 
 part covered. Some of these slaty foliaceous specimens 
 I collected are curiously marked with red concentric 
 lines on a yellowish, sandy-coloured ground, but none 
 with the singular seaweed-like impressions found on the 
 hill in North 
 
 We shoveu oif in the boat, through rain and fog, after 
 our customary meal, now of teal roasted, and teal stewed 
 by way c'^ change ; for any variety or change in the diet, 
 however trifling, has at all times a beneficial effect on 
 the general health. We fetched into North Bay, and 
 hauled the boat up on a sandy beach, at the south-west 
 corner, beneath a phonolite hill intersecting the trap. 
 The long line of sandy beach is backed by a level plain 
 
Encamped in North Bay. 
 
 n 
 
 of swampy ground, covered with mosses, dwarf, tufted 
 plants, and strewed over with stones — a watercourse 
 flowing through it. Had tea, and some of the fine- 
 flavoured stewed mussels, and turned in at 8.30 p.m., 
 the wind blowing in heavy gusts, accompanied by rain, 
 the boat's awning flapping violentl}-, threatening to unroof 
 us every moment. 
 
 Monday, 22nd. — We passed a most uncomfortable 
 night, everything about us cold, damp, wet, and chilly. 
 After a cocoa and grilled-pork breakfast, I left the boat 
 at 8.50 a.m. to ascend and examine the structure of the 
 remarkable hill above us, following the watercourse where 
 it lies in contact with the greenstone, or line of junction. 
 The ascent to the summit, 600 feet, is steep, the sudden 
 gusts of wind rendering the foothold very inse:ure. 
 About tv ^-thirds up, the phonolite appears in prismatic 
 colur*- ;rough the loose, fragmentary ddhris. It came 
 on to idin before I reached the boat, at 1 1.20 a.m., when 
 we shoved ofl^ in a fresh gale for the opposite side of 
 Cumberland Bay, and the wind proving fair, at 12.30 p.m. 
 we hauled the boat up upon the beach, at our old 
 quarters, to the left of the small promontory at the head 
 of South Bay. Being now reduced to short allowance of 
 provisions, in short, to a piece of salt beef and a flour- 
 dumpling for our boat's-crew's dinner, after the boat was 
 secured for the night, I took my gun for a ramble along 
 the beach in search of some teal, whose plaintive low 
 whistle I had heard, for an addition to our larder, little 
 thinking when I left the boat the adventure I was entering 
 upon, and which was so near leading to a night out, 
 without the slightest shelter, in one of the most tem- 
 pestuous nights I ever experienced. 
 
 For, on reaching the watercourse formed by the falls 
 of fresh water, brought down in torrents from the ridge 
 of hills bounding the top of the bay to where it debouches 
 into the sea, I found that the rains had so flooded it. 
 
 f'ii 
 
 4 
 
ri 
 
 ¥ 
 
 %'f'i 
 
 ? ' 
 
 :% 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 both in depth and breadth, that, in attempting to ford it, 
 so strong was the rush of water, I was nearly carried 
 off my feet bodily into the sea, and when swept off' my 
 foothold only escaped by striking out tor the opposite 
 bank, and grappling with it. My gun, having become 
 submerged, neither barrels would go off at the only teal 
 I met with, at the further end of the beach, where a few 
 chionis were searching amongst the seaweed for their 
 marine food. 
 
 Being thus well drenched, and my heavy water-boots 
 filled with water, and gun useless, I would have returned 
 to the boat at once by the way I came, as the shortest 
 route, not more than half a mile ; but the stream, which 
 had every minute been increasing, and getting more 
 impassable, now, on my return to it, rushed along in such 
 an impetuous torrent as to render any further attempt to 
 cross it hopeless in the extreme. The only alternative 
 left me was to make a long circuit of the ridge of hills 
 bounding the top of the bay, or rather plain, which was 
 now intersected in every direction by rapid streams of 
 water ; yet at other times I had walked over it without 
 wetting the soles of my shoes. But, before I had com- 
 pleted one half of the distance, my progress became 
 arrested by cascade after cascade rushing down the 
 steep rocky declivities in foaming torrents. 
 
 Darkness had now set in to increase the difficulties 
 of my situation, and the increasing wind threatened a 
 most tempestuous night. My only chance now was 
 to make the circuit of the ridge higher up, where, 
 possibly, the torrents might become narrower, so as to 
 enable me to leap over them. First disencumbering 
 myself of my haversack, containing some of the finest 
 specimens of quartz crystals in large drusy cavities, 
 weighing in all some fifty pounds, and which I had 
 picked up soon after crossing the first torrent, I re- 
 luctantly made a cache of them on a rock, at the edge of 
 
 rl 
 
«l 
 
 A perilous Adventure. 
 
 75 
 
 a foaming torrenl, taking a cross bearing of the spot, as 
 well as the darkness would permit of, by an observation 
 of the most striking point and depression of the moun- 
 tain-outlines, on either side, as they stood out in strong 
 relief against the sky. Thus lightened, I hoped to have 
 cleared all obstacles to my further progress, when reaching 
 the lower portion of a black, rugged mountain, my ears 
 were all at once saluted by the disheartening sound of a 
 large, foaming torrent, which soon burst upon me, 
 dashing down a deep gorge in the rocks, in a white, 
 foaming cascade, forming eddies and whirlpools amongst 
 the loose rocky fragments, as they obstructed its course. 
 The darkness of the night, only relieved by the fitful 
 glare from the white, foaming spray, the torrents sent 
 upwards, the terrific gusts of wind, accompanied by a de- 
 luge of rain, combined, together with black, overhanging, 
 frowning precipices, to form a scene of the wildest 
 description. I began to relinquish all hope of reaching 
 the boat, and to reflect on the best course to be pursued; 
 whether to attempt to dash through this torrent by swim- 
 ming, as it was impossible to ford it in any direction, or 
 to seek some cavern in the rocks for shelter through 
 such a night in such a country, when on sounding the 
 torrent with my gun, to ascertain its force and depth, it 
 was all but twisted out of my hand. The crossing, 
 therefore, was hopeless. It was now past six o'clock, 
 and I followed the torrent upwards in the vain hope of 
 finding it narrower, approaching its source, groping in 
 the dark amidst crags and hollows, rendered so slippery 
 with the rain, that on more than one occasion I was only 
 saved from being hurled down some yawning precipice, 
 through the friendly aid of my old double-barrelled gun, 
 with the butt-end of which I sounded my way, vhich 
 becoming steeper and steeper, and despairing of getting 
 nearer its source, I resolved upon trying to follow it in its 
 descent to the plain : a tortuous route, but eventually I 
 
mtam 
 
 ?! ■ 
 
 "(i t 
 
 f\ 
 
 76 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 b 
 
 succeeded in fording it, where it spread out on some 
 sands, lessened in depth. 
 
 As I felt that I could not be now at any great distance 
 from the boat, I hailed as loud as I could, in the hope 
 that a pistol might be fired as a guide to its position, and, 
 after a few minutes had transpired, a flash lighted up all 
 around, although the boat itself was invisible ; and after 
 crossing a small, boggy hillock, for I had been wading up 
 to my knees in water, I saw the light of a port-fire, which 
 illumined the whole of the swampy space separatmg 
 me from the boat, and on my rounding the promontory 
 behind which she was lying, she suddenly came in sight, 
 the light between the folds of the awning indicating her 
 position. 
 
 At about seven p.m. I had the inexpressible gratifica- 
 tion of finding myself in the stern-sheets, under the 
 cover of that awning, after wandering for upwards of two 
 hours in the dark, and drenched to the skin for double 
 that time. After having changed my wet clothes I had 
 some tea, with some stewed chionis our thoughtful, kind- 
 hearted boat's-crew had caught during my absence, and 
 kept for my supper, for they had been most anxious about 
 me, and had been watching in the bow of the boat for 
 hours, listening for any signal from me, hence their so 
 speedily hearing and answering my hail. They had ex- 
 pected to hear the report of my gun, which, unluckily for 
 me, had early become useless ; and in such a place and 
 night of weather they knew not where to look for me. 
 
 At 9.30 p.m. I turned into my blanket-bag; but our 
 rest was of short duration, for scarcely time was allowed 
 me to congratulate myself on my narrow escape from 
 passing the night out — and such a night — in these wilds, 
 when the gale increased to such a hurricane, and the 
 heavy rain beat upon us with such violence, that the boat's 
 awning was soon flapping about our ears in all directions. 
 We had to strike it, and roll ourselves up in its folds for 
 
Il 
 
 A tempestuous Night. 
 
 77 
 
 the remainder of this dismal and freezing night. So 
 ended this to me memorable excursion in search of teal 
 for the pot. 
 
 Tuesday^ 2^rd. — This morning various things blown 
 out of the boat during the late tempestuous night were 
 picked up along the beach, some of them, improbable 
 as it may seem, half a mile from the boat, and such was 
 the force of some of the gusts of this tornado, that one 
 heavy box of my rock-specimens was hurled out of 
 the stern-sheets to a considerable distance. The air 
 was chill and intensely cold. These sudden floods are 
 caused by heavy rains melting the snow and ice on the 
 summits of the mountain-ranges. 
 
 \i 
 
 ii 
 
 'I 
 
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 i| il 
 
 
I 
 
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 Coal Seam, Uuck Bay, Cunibciland Bay. {Sir finite 8r.) 
 
 li I 
 
 'I I 
 
 'HvJ 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 New bay discovered — Club-moss Bay — Seals for supper — Find a coal- 
 seam— A wet bed in a wintry niyht on the rocks — Piovisions 
 exhausted — Return to the Erebus — Packing the fossil tree — 
 Burrowing for " night petrels " — Farewell to the island. 
 
 When I was in thiy bay last I came to the conclusion, 
 from the appearance presented by the ridges above it, and 
 their direction, bounded by high land on either side, that 
 a southerly course would take me to White Bay, the next 
 bay running parallel with Cumberland Bay. To-morrow, 
 being the day fixed for our return to the ship, I deter- 
 mined to settle this question, and at 1 1.30 a.m., accom- 
 panied by Fawcett, our boatswain's mate (who, poor fellow, 
 subsequently perished with the old ships in the ill-fated 
 " Franklin Expedition "). Our way lay over the scenes 
 of my last night's adventure, first across the flat, sandy 
 
Discover a uew Bay. 
 
 79 
 
 plain between the boat and the ridges, which, swollen by 
 the floods, then was one sheet of water, but was now in 
 so short a space of time drained nearly dry ; and the 
 watercourses down the rocks above it no longer foamed 
 in torrents, but could be easily crossed from stone to 
 stone. In short, no greater contrast could be conceived 
 than between last night and this morning. 
 
 At 12.40 p.m., when three and a half miles from the 
 boat, on the top of one of the ridges, I was gratified with 
 a glance of the sea at a distance, and, pushing on, in 
 about ten minutes a fine bay opened to the left, bounded 
 by a bold, rocky headland. At 1.30 p.m. I stood on a 
 steep ridge overhanging a low, swampy valley beneath, 
 looking green, and skirted by a pretty smooth sandy 
 beach, laved by the waters of the bay, distant from the 
 boat about five miles. I descended a steep declivity 
 between two waterfalls to the beach, where we found four 
 seals basking ; I shot one with a ball, and another with a 
 charge of small shot, for their hearts and livers, which 
 we brought away with us for our supper. The remaining 
 two only rolled themselves a little higher up on the grass 
 on which they had been sleeping, and made no further 
 attempt to escape, and we left them there uninjured, to 
 condole with each other on the fate of their companions. 
 Numerous skeletons of seals were strewed about the beach 
 on which the chionis were walking amongst the seaweed ; I 
 killed two of them at one shot. Saw several black-backed 
 gulls, and picked up a few Pholas shells and some speci- 
 mens of echini (sea eggs) and coralines ; a few tern were 
 hovering overhead. In the centre of the beach is a 
 very remarkable square hummock near high-water mark. 
 At 3.15 p.m. we started on our return. Weather fine, but 
 cloudy. Struck through the valley, and over ridges by 
 a trapdyke. E.N.E. -} E. Just before we reached the 
 boat, at 5.15 p.m., a little after dark, when crossing the 
 sandy plain, which I have too good reason to recollect, 
 
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 111 
 
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 I 'oyai^cs of Discovery. 
 
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 it became thick with a hail-storm. We had the seals 
 hearts and livers for supper, and turned into our bags at 
 7.30 p.m. Our new discovery appears to be a bay inside 
 Point Pringle, near the entrance to White liay, which I 
 have named Club-moss Bay from having discovered a 
 fiew species of that lycopod in its vicinity only, 
 
 Wednesday, 24//^. — As it was blowing too hard to put 
 to sea, I filled up the spare time by making an excursion 
 up the ravine above the creek, at the south-west corner of 
 South or Duck Bay. I left the boat at 9.40 a.m., and was 
 accompanied by my marine. Barker. Lieutenant Phillips 
 at the same time started with his own three men for the 
 bay I discovered yesterday. At 10.40 a.m. we arrived 
 at the margin of the lake, my furthest in this direction in 
 the first expedition. Only saw a solitary teal there. We 
 next shaped our course along the left side of the lake, over 
 the rocky di^bris, forming a talus at the base of a high 
 range of hills, and in one or two places a shingly 
 beach. As we were rounding a sharp angle of the 
 mountain we encountered a tremendous gust of wind, 
 even for this stormy land, whirling with all the fury of 
 a tornado, and were only saved from being blown into the 
 lake by my clinging to the projecting crags, or, as my com- 
 panion did, by throwing his Herculean form on the ground 
 in a horizontal position. At 1 1.25 we reached the upper 
 end of the lake, which is a mile and a half in length. 
 We were now five miles from the boat, following the 
 zigzag course of the swampy valley, with high ridges 
 of trappean hills on either side. Four miles above the 
 lake we ascended the ridge near a cascade which fell over 
 a precipice in front of a cavern, beautifully frosted over 
 by the congealed spray. From this spot hills arose in 
 every direction to obstruct all view further ahead ; and 
 after passing another frosted fall, and seeing no prospect of 
 the valley speedily terminating on the coast, which it had 
 been my object to reach, and I hoped might be the case. 
 
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Provisions runniufr short. 
 
 8i 
 
 we rested by the side of a waterfall, to take a hasty 
 lunch, and then descended by the fall to the valley. 
 At one p.m. we ascended an isolated rocky hummock 
 in the centre of the valley, which afforded a view for 
 about a mile ahead, the last bend of the valley being to 
 the S.S.W. We commenced our return journey at 1.30 
 p.m., and, passing the lake, I picked up on its shore a 
 solitary piece of fossil-wood, the first I have met with in 
 Cumberland Bay, and a piece of coal, with some red 
 fragments of a hard-baked argillaceous clay. We reached 
 the boat at five p.m., after a journey of about eighteen 
 miles there and back. We saw scarcely any birds. 
 I^hillips a.id his party had already returned from their 
 excursion, and at Club-moss Bay had slaughtered no 
 less than fourteen seals, to leave them to rot, a feat 
 without any justifiable object, and consequently much 
 to be regretted. 
 
 Thursday, 2^ih. — This morning, after breakfast, 
 accompanied by one of my boat's-crew, I went in search 
 of the rock crystals I left behind me on Monday night, 
 when beset by the floods. After a search I found both 
 lots, and a few more, notwithstanding the ground was 
 covered with snow, and the weather thick with hail-storms, 
 having to face a sharp drift. At 3.45 I visited the 
 ravine where I was arrested by the torrents on Monday 
 night. Here I discovered a small seam of coal or lignite. 
 It crops out in two places at the bottom of a watercourse, 
 where it is intersected by a trapdyke three inches 
 in width. The adjacent mountain is composed of green- 
 stone and amygdaloid, and about half a mile above 
 the Boat Promontory. Reached the boat at 5. 15 p.m., 
 had a penguin and pea-soup supper, and turned in at 
 eight p.m. 
 
 Friday, 26th. — Still stormy, with hail. Our supply of 
 provisions getting short, cocoa all expended, and only 
 tea and biscuit enough for breakfast. I made another 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
 III 
 
 I 4 
 
 1 1 
 
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 w^ 
 
 % 
 
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 i '■ 
 
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 83 
 
 Voya^(^cs of Discovery. 
 
 visit to the coal seam. Found it again cropping out 
 on the opposite side of the watercourse, twelve feet 
 across and about twenty yards up the ravine, fifty feet 
 above sea level. Returned to the boat at noon. In the 
 afternoon I made an excursion to the Phonolite Hill, 
 north of the coal seam, and found another outcrop on the 
 opposite side of the hill, where, indeed, I first discovered 
 some also on the side of the watercourse, and it was a 
 foot in depth and ten feet in length on the surface, the 
 most beautiful specimen I have yet met with. Black and 
 glossy, very bituminous, with the brittle shining fracture 
 of anthracite. Direction of the scam south-east and 
 north-west, and, like the first seam, which was two feet 
 by twenty feet, immediately overlaid by amygdaloid and 
 greenstone, a three feet wide gorge winding round a 
 mass of prismatic phonolite, and led to the summit 
 where the phonolite was separated from the greenstone 
 by a basaltic dyke, three feet wide, running south-cast 
 and north-west. A lake, 200 yards long by 150 broad, 
 fills the crater-like depression on the summit, narrowing 
 towards the north-east end, and widening at the 
 southern extremity ; depth, three feet ; the surface in 
 places covered with ice, marked with hexagonal lines. 
 This lake is encircled by an irregular wall of greenstone 
 from five to twenty feet in height, and empties itself 
 by a watercourse and cascade down the hill on the 
 south-east, descended by another of those gorges in the 
 columnar clinkstone. Reached the boat at 4.15 p.m., 
 through a heavy snow-storm. Had cormorant soup for 
 supper. 
 
 Sniurdny, 2']tli. — Launched the boat amidst heavy 
 snow, freezing sharp. Pulled along the west side of the 
 bay. The hollows in the moss-covered dt^bris forming a 
 talus at the base of the hills, presented a very beautiful 
 appearance from the brilliant display of icicles hanging 
 in large festoons in front of them. For about half an 
 
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Scudding before the gale for Cumberland Corner. 83 
 
 hour we pulled alongside in a small creek in the rocks, 
 and had our breakfast of soup and biscuit. At noon we 
 made sail, and ran before a fine breeze down Cumberland 
 Bay. The weather, after we had rounded Cape Cum- 
 berland, looked threatening, and we attempted to beat 
 up against a strong head-wind and short broken sea 
 for Christmas Harbour. Between Foul Bay, however, 
 and Arched Point, we shipped so much water, both over 
 the bows and to leeward, as to nearly swamp the boat. 
 Being up to the thwarts in water, we were compelled to 
 lower the sail and bale her out ; and still further to 
 lighten her and increase her buoyancy, my worthy 
 colleague ventured, though reluctantly, to propose that 
 my boxes of specimens should be thrown overboard as 
 a sacrifice to the storm. But this was expecting too 
 much from me after all the toil and risk 1 had undergone 
 in collecting them, and my well-meaning, excellent 
 boating companion saw himself that this would be too 
 great a sacrifice on my part, and to be resorted to only 
 as a last resource. So they retained their place as 
 ballast at the bottom of the boat, for I felt that the time 
 had not yet arrived for such an extreme measure, and so 
 the result proved. 
 
 After pulling against a short head-sea amid heavy 
 squalls, without apparently gaining in the least upon the 
 Arched Point, we were really drifting to leeward. At 
 three p.m. we bore up when within half a mile of the 
 point, and scudded under the mizzen, set forward for 
 Cape Cumberland, the sky at this time looking most 
 black and threatening. We had a tough pull round the 
 cape against the sudden squalls, and were nearly blown 
 out to sea. At last, at four p.m., we secured a berth in 
 cur old corner, under the lee of the land. It being now 
 low water, we could not, as before, haul the boat over the 
 ledge of rocks, so after getting everything out of her, we 
 moored her outside to take her chance for the night ; 
 
 (12 
 
 ' « 
 
 \\ 
 
 \ \ 
 
 ' i 
 
r« 
 
 84 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 and on the swampy, snow-clad ledge of rocks we rigged 
 up a tent with the mast and sails, supported on a tri- 
 angle at one end, and by the face of the cliff on the other. 
 It was quite dark before we had completed all our 
 arrangements for the night, after which we had some 
 cold preserved meat and biscuit for supper, and turned 
 into our blanket-bags, which were as wet as our 
 clothes. 
 
 Having got the stove within the tent and arranged the 
 lately all but doomed specimen-boxes as pillows, we 
 were nearly driven out by the smoke from the stove, and 
 when the fire was allowed to go out the snow it had 
 melted froze again from the severity of the intense cold. 
 In the morning, when attempting to rise, I found my 
 outer garments frozen to the ground beneath me. The 
 night-petrels on the rocks above our heads did their best 
 to lull us into slumber by their melancholy moaning, kept 
 up through the greater part of the night. 
 
 Sunday, 2%th. — Rose at 7.45 a.m. and struck the tent, 
 getting everything into the boat, and took our final 
 departure from Cumberland Corner at 8.45, having a 
 moderate breeze and smooth water. Nearly all our pro- 
 visions were exhausted ; the tea, cocoa, flour, and some 
 other articles had been out for several days, and the last 
 of the grog, the sailor's comfort, was served out to the 
 boat's-crew this morning ; forty-eight hours of preserved 
 meat alone remained ; so that had we been longer 
 weather-bound, we had intended making an overland 
 journey to the ships. However, we now pulled round 
 Arched Point, and got on hodxdihe Erebus ^i 10.30 a.m. ; 
 found Captain Ross and the ship's company at divine 
 service, and, as soon as it was concluded. Captain Ross 
 shook me heartily by the hand, and seemed to be very 
 glad we had returned. 
 
 I had scarcely got through the very essential ordeal of 
 a shave and entire change of things, after nearly a fort- 
 
.<*' 
 
 Excnrsicns to Arched Point Bay and Cape Francois. 85 
 
 night's absence without either, when the White Bay 
 party's boats were reported in sight, and at 1.30 p.m. 
 arrived. They had left the ship two days after us. 
 
 When our coals fell short in the boat we cooked our 
 meals with the island coal I discovered in South Bay, 
 which burnt remarkably well, so that we should not have 
 been at any straits for fuel, and my gun would have 
 furnished us amply with game, to which the native cab- 
 bage added an excellent antiscorbutic vegetable very 
 palatable. The groceries we should have missed the 
 most. 
 
 Wednesday, July \st. — Blowing weather, since my 
 return, preventing conununication with the shore, I 
 employed myself in arranging and stowing away my 
 specimens of natural history. 
 
 Thursday, 2nd. — I landed in the gig and crossed the 
 isthmus to the lakes, shot a brace each of teal and 
 chionis. 
 
 Friday, '^rd. — At 8.30 a.m. the whale-boat landed me 
 at the corner of Arched Point Bay ; when about the 
 centre of the bay a seam of very fair coal, of course, like 
 all found cropping out in the igneous rock-formation of 
 this island, of lignite origin. It occurs here four feet and 
 upwards in thickness, forty feet in length near the sur- 
 face, and about thirty feet above the level of the sea. 
 Above the coal, just within reach of my geological 
 hammer; a fossil-tree is imbedded in a vertical position, 
 in the face of the perpendicular cliff of greenstone, which 
 rises to 600 feet above it. After collecting a few plants, 
 and having shot three chionis and a shag, I returned on 
 board in the gig at five p.m., amid heavy squalls and 
 large quantities of ice falling from the cliffs. 
 
 Siiturday, \th, 8.30 a.m. — Left the ship on an excur- 
 sion round Cape Fran5ois ; following the line of beach 
 over the rocks was a toilsome journey, rendered still 
 more so by my having to face a sharp, cutting snow- 
 
 J ^•' 
 
 i 
 
 I ! 
 
 \i A 
 
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 Jill 
 
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 !f':i- 
 
 ^ '■? 
 
86 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 I 
 
 i\ 
 
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 !' I 
 
 drift during the heavy squalls that were blowing. About 
 the middle of the bay is a cave, hollowed out of a bed of 
 shale, to the extent of twenty feet in depth and twelve in 
 height, the entrance to it about thirty feet in width. A 
 thin vein of coal only a few inches in thickness underlies 
 the shale. It may also be seen on either side of the cave, 
 where the rocks have been undermined. A number of 
 gulls were assembled in the bay, feasting on the remains 
 of a seal and some dead penguins. Of the latter bird I 
 did not meet with a living one throughout my excursion. 
 I shot two large petrel {Proccllana gigantea), two black- 
 backed gulls, and two shags. At the base of Cape 
 Francois is a perfect chaos of rock-fragments and black 
 ledges of rock jutting out, on which a heavy surf 
 was breaking. About noon I began my return at a deep 
 cleft or chasm, and reached the observatory at 3.30 p.m., 
 where I found Captains Ross and Crozier at dinner, and 
 joined them. 
 
 Sui/day, ^tJi. — Captain Ross came on board and per- 
 formed divine service, and at four p.m. both captains and 
 the gun-room officers of the Erebus dined with the gun- 
 room officers of the Terror. We had an excellent dinner 
 for this land of desolation, and excellent cabbage, with 
 fish, soup, boiled mutton, and roast pork, pastry, &c. 
 
 Monday, 13///. — The weather having been so unfavour- 
 able, blowing and raining for the last few days, I had 
 only landed twice for a short time, but employed my 
 time in skinning birds, laying out plants, and packing the 
 large fossil tree in a box the carpenter had made for it, 
 accompanying it with a full description in writing. At 
 eleven a.m. I landed, but the weather being so threaten- 
 ing, with a heavy surf breaking on the beach, throughout 
 the morning, I did not venture out of sight of the 
 Terror's boat, employed getting her observatory on 
 board, and it was fortunate for me that I did not, or I 
 should have had to remain on shore all night, and alone. 
 
Last Visit to the shore and search for Night Petrel. 87 
 
 as her people with the tents were all taken on board 
 in the last boat, which I got a passage in after run- 
 ning down to the beach just as she was about shoving 
 off, shooting a tern which was attempting to make 
 headway against the squalls as it flew over my head 
 on my way down to the boat. I had been digging 
 with a shovel for the night-petrel through the holes 
 made by them in the ridge above the beach, but did not 
 succeed in finding any. The snow on the ground had 
 drifted in wreaths, into which I sank to the top of 
 my boots at every step. Soon after I got on board a 
 heavy gale came on. 
 
 Wednesday, July \$th. — At nine a.m. I landed here 
 for the last time, for the purpose of searching the burrows 
 of the night-petrel for specimens, as we intend putting 
 to sea so soon as the weather will permit. To-day much 
 of the snow was melted by the rains ol last night. On 
 first landing, I shot a seal by discharging both barrels, 
 with only small shot, at his head, near the stream which 
 enters the bay at the south end of the beach ; and Cap- 
 tain Ross sent one of his gig's crew to secure the skin. 
 I afterwards occupied myself for above three hours, till 
 1.30 p.m., in digging on the ridges just above the beach, 
 opening several holes, where marks of the impression of 
 feet, droppings, and feathers, indicated the presence of 
 birds ; but found them all empty, with the exception of a 
 small, soft-shelled, rotten egg of a white colour in two 
 of the holes. However, on descending a little down the 
 ridges, 1 at last succeeded in unroofing four very fine 
 specimens from two holes in a greenbank, the entrances 
 to which bore no marks of there being birds within. I 
 dug out the first pair at noon, and shortly afterwards 
 another pair from a hole just beneath the first. Its 
 narrow entrance was partially concealed by the stalk of 
 a cabbage growing in front of it. I first ascertained the 
 presence of the birds by sounding with the ramiod of 
 
 M 
 
 iil 
 
 I'i'fi ' 
 
 , in 
 
 rll 
 
88 
 
 yoya^es of Discovery. 
 
 y 
 
 my gun, which caused them to move and utter a low 
 note. The burrow, for the bird is evidently the architect 
 of its own dwelling, is about three feet in length, gene- 
 rally winding to the left, and ending in a circular dome, 
 six inches high and eighteen inches in diameter. In the 
 centre of this is a slightly raised mound of soil, strewed 
 over with a green leaf or two of the tufted plant which 
 so generally forms a carpet to the soil here, and a blade 
 or two of grass. On this little ottoman sits the bird 
 itself, and in both holes they sit apart from each other, 
 on either edge of the mount opposite. What instinct, 
 nay, wonderful design, do these little CiCatures exhibit in 
 their system of drainage, by the construction of a canal 
 two inches deep and the same in breadth, on an incline, 
 for letting off the water. No skilled artificer could have 
 surpassed them, for whatever the floods may be around 
 them, here they reposed in dryness and comfort. Whilst 
 I was digging above their heads not a sound escaped 
 them, silent as the grave till they were touched, and on 
 being handled, uttered a sharp, shrill cry, emptying their 
 stomachs at the same time, the contents of which were 
 the remains of crustaceae, and the beak of a small cuttle- 
 fish was thrown up from one of them. The bird has a 
 broad, flat head, and, like most nocturnal birds, very large, 
 full, dark eyes, a deep brown approaching to black ; the 
 plumage is of a sooty black. On returning to the beach 
 I found Captain Ross busily employed in superintending 
 the pulling down of the observatory. 
 
 Being desirous of adding a specimen or two more of 
 that highly interesting white bird, the chionis, to my 
 collection, I rambled for about half a mile along the 
 rocky ddbris at the water's edge, where they seek their 
 pelagic food amongst the seaweed on the south side of 
 the bay. But so scarce have they become from the long 
 presence here of the ships, that I only met with one, 
 which I shot, and brought on board, with a few specimens 
 
Farewell to the Island. 
 
 89 
 
 of seaweed, the conglomerate rock, with limpets, and the 
 native cabbage; getting on board at 4.30 p.m., when it 
 came on to blow and rain soon afterwards. In the 
 evening I laid out my seaweed. 
 
 Thursday ^ \6th. — Blowing too hard to-day to unmoor 
 ship, a boat was sent on shore with an inscription in 
 copper case, to be deposited on the site of the observa- 
 tory, as a memorial of our visit to the island. 
 
 Boat Refuge, Cumberland Corner. {See page 84). 
 
f1'/ 
 
 Arched Rock, Christmas Harbour. {See pa^^c c)2.) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 # 
 
 Geological resume of Kerguelen's Island. 
 
 VlFAVED geologically, this and the island of Spitzbergen, 
 in the opposite hemisphere, are the two most deeply 
 interesting and remarkable islands on the face of the 
 globe, and the least known. 
 
 Kerguelen's, isolated amid the vast southern ocean, 
 in lat. 50°, and long. 69°, was first discovered by 
 M. de Kerguelen, a lieutenant in the French navy, in 
 the year 1772; and subsequently our own renowned 
 navigator, Captain James Cook, was the first to anchor 
 his ships in Christmas Harbour, and give to the land the 
 name of Desolation Island. Christmas Harbour is in 
 somewhat the shape of a foot, and named after the 
 French frigate, Baie de rOiseau. 
 
 The island is entirely of volcanic formation, upheaved 
 from the bed of the ocean, most probably during the 
 tertiary epoch. Ancient forests have been entombed 
 within the lava currents which once flowed from sub- 
 marine craters long extinct. The silicified trunks of 
 
Geological Rhum^ of Kcrguckn's Land. 
 
 9' 
 
 trees, lignites, beds of anthracite, and coal, so abundantly 
 embedded in the basaltic rocks, amply testify ; where, 
 now, not a vestige of aqueous formations occurs, and 
 neither tree nor shrub are to be found, the native cabbage 
 {Priiiglca aiiliscorhutica), about two feet in height, being 
 the largest plant existing on the island. Yet these fossil- 
 trees, chiefly of the coniferae, remain as monuments of 
 their past existence in a land long ago submerged, to be 
 again upheaved by some subsequent disturbance of the 
 bed of the ocean. The trunks of the trees being subjected 
 to great pressure beneath a body of water, and in the 
 process of slow-cooling, would become infiltrated with 
 the silex in solution ; also, under the slow-cooling of the 
 submarine lava streams, the beautiful, crystalline, drusy 
 cavities in the rocks, and prismatic structure would take 
 place whilst shrinking in the melted state; and the 
 characteristic formation of the schistose trachyte, forming 
 those phonolite domes, upheaved between the greenstone 
 ranges in Cumberland Bay, have arisen under the ex- 
 pansive force of the elastic vapours. The red marking 
 in the foliaceous phonolite is owing to oxide of iron. 
 
 The general aspect of the island is picturesque in the 
 extreme. The trappean terraces, rising one above the 
 other, studded here and there with a conical, crateriform 
 hill, rising above all ; the coast-line, intersected by bays 
 and creeks throughout, leaving only very narrow isth- 
 muses between one coast and the other. Small lakes 
 are scattered over the surface of the valleys, and count- 
 less waterfalls or cascades rush in torrents down the 
 steep and precipitous black basaltic cliffs, their white 
 foam in striking contrast with the black surface of tfie 
 lava. Cumberland Bay contains some excellent com- 
 modious harbours, affording safe anchorage to ships or 
 boats ; its shores much diversified by the many smooth- 
 looking, cone-shaped hills, from three to four hundred 
 feet high, of phonolite or clinkstone, both prismatic and 
 
 > i i 
 
 \k 
 
 * iiJ 
 
 
 fill 
 
 m 
 
3' ! 
 
 =a-^a 
 
 fa 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 foliated in structure, so characteristic of the trachytic 
 formation, the light-yellowish colour of these rounded 
 cones appearing in striking contrast with the dark shade 
 of the greenstone ranges between which they emerge. 
 Some of the fragments I collected were singularly marked 
 with concentric circles of red oxide of iron. One beau- 
 tiful specimen, in particular, so resembled a bright red 
 seaweed occurring on the shores of the bay, both in 
 colour and the delicate tracery of its form, that 
 Captain Ross, to whom I showed it, could scarcely 
 believe that it was not the fossil-weed itself, preserved 
 in foliaceous sandstone, which, indeed, it very much 
 resembled. 
 
 Christmas Harbour, the northernmost and finest bay 
 between Cape Francois and the Arched Point, is about 
 a mile in breadth at its entrance, bounded on either side 
 by trappean terraces one above the other. Table Mount, 
 having a crateriform summit, filled by a lake, is the 
 highest hill, altaining_an altitude of above 1200 feet on 
 the north side of the bay ; whilst, on the south side of 
 the harbour, a vast block of black basalt, some 400 feet 
 in thickness, rests upon a greenstone ridge of 600 feet, 
 the whole attaining an altitude of 1000 feet above the 
 harbour, a horizontal bed of shale, six feet thick, dividing 
 them. 
 
 It was here that I discovered the first specimen of the 
 fossil-wood, when ascending the mount on the day after 
 anchoring in the harbour, and subsequently the trunk of 
 the large silicified tree, seven feet in circumference, 
 embedded in the debris beneath, with some remarkable 
 specimens in the face of the Arched Rock, at the 
 entrance to the bay. And in a small cove near this a 
 seam of brown coal or lignite, four feet in thickness, 
 and forty feet in length, crops out above the talus of 
 debris, thirty feet above the bay, underlying the lava or 
 basalt, which rises 500 feet above it. 
 
Discovery of Coal. 
 
 93 
 
 This discovery of coal in so many localities of the 
 island might be turned to good account as coaling- 
 depots to the numerous steamers that are employed in 
 our East India and Australian trade, where they might 
 replenish supplies when about mid- voyage out or home, 
 without having to go far out of their course in doing so. 
 The seams of coal, too, for the most part occur near the 
 surface. All that would be required would be to tunnel 
 horizontal galleries through them. The coal, I know 
 from experience, burns well, having cooked our food 
 with it when away with the boats in Cumberland Bay, at 
 a time when the coals brought with us from the ship had 
 run out. All it wants is to be brought under the notice 
 of the Government. 
 
 The rise and fall of the tide in Christmas Harbour is 
 very slight indeed, only between one and two feet. The 
 climate is stormy and tempestuous in the extreme. We 
 made the land, Bligh's Cap, in the month of May, amid 
 fogs and squalls, and, on our departure from it, towards 
 the end of July, we encountered a succession of tremen- 
 dous gales in the passage to Tasmania. It is not a little 
 remarkable that the general direction of the mountain 
 range should have the same bearings, north-east and 
 south-west, as the Tasmanian and great Australian 
 mountain-dividing ranges. 
 
 The highest land I met with when away in the boats 
 up Cumberland Bay attained an altitude of 2500 feet, 
 and the disintegration of the hills must be going on very 
 rapidly, judging from the enormous accumulation of 
 debris at their bases, forming steep slopes of talus from 
 300 to 500 feet, down to the black ledges of basalt upon 
 which the sea breaks along the whole weather-shore, 
 which, with the numerous watercourses rushing down 
 from the trappean mountain ranges above, to the carpet 
 of vegetation beneath, render it an almost impassable 
 bog, in which our party sank knee-deep at every step, 
 
 Mi':* 
 
 '■(J 
 
94 
 
 Voyages of Discovery 
 
 and then finding an inlet bounding it and all further 
 progress to the westward. 
 
 The vegetation is chiefly limited to mosses, lichens, and 
 grasses, and a tufted heath-like plant, which forms quite 
 an elastic covering to the soil everywhere. The native 
 cabbage, an excellent esculent and antiscorbutic, formed 
 a wholesome addition to our bill of fare. It is a peren- 
 nial, with lateral flowering stems. The delicious teal, 
 blue-winged, is, I believe, peculiar to the island, and also 
 the white bird, or chionis. This species of sheathbill, too, 
 is limited to this land ; the others were mostly sea-birds, 
 sooty albatrosses, gigantic petrel, night-petrel, tern, shags, 
 and penguins. The skua and black-backed gulls fre- 
 quented the bays, seals of two or three kinds occasionally 
 came into the harbour. 
 
 When we come to reflect that, at the present time, 
 not a vestige of any arborescent form of vegetation has 
 existence here, we may well ask from whence came all 
 the fossil-wood. A far greater extent of land must at 
 some period of time have existed to account for such a 
 vast accumulation of vegetable remains, altered, indeed, 
 into lignites, fossil-wood, and coals, but which must once 
 have constituted whole forests, and have been submerged 
 long enough to convert the vegetable structure into coal 
 and lignite, and silicified the wood, which would have the 
 effect of enabling it to resist the heat of those subaqueous 
 lava streams which poured out and overwhelmed them in 
 deep water, when the zeolites in Christmas Harbour were 
 formed. 
 
 At what period of our earth's history all this took 
 place must necessarily be somewhat a matter of conjec- 
 ture, in the absence of all sedimentary formation as 
 evidence to guide us. But the brown coal and lignite, 
 however, may afford us some clue, inasmuch as they 
 greatly resemble the brown coal and lignite found under 
 
 
<^.- 
 
 Anc2C7ii Forests of the Land. 
 
 95 
 
 very similar circumstances in the newer tertiary deposits 
 of continental Europe, a period of geological time 
 when lava streams, submarine craters, and their charac- 
 teristic lignites and fossils, so much abounded. 
 
 The ancient forests of the land, at whatever period of 
 time they may have existed, must have consisted mainly 
 of conifers, from all the fossil-wood found here having the 
 glandular structure, or resin-duct, peculiar to all the coni- 
 ferae or pine tribe, a class of plants which, from their 
 resinous composition, are so well adapted to resist the 
 extremes of cold of an Arctic or Antarctic climate; 
 this resin being formed by the air slowly entering into 
 combination with the carbon, a non-conductor of heat, 
 and from the glutinous resin not freezing but concen- 
 trating all its heat within, most effectually seals up its 
 vitality. 
 
 Hence the power of the coniferous types — so con- 
 spicuous in all the carboniferous forests of bygone ages 
 — to resist the great changes and vicissitudes of tem- 
 perature to which they have been subjected, and thus 
 enabled to exist as a large family of trees throughout so 
 many epochs in the earth's history. 
 
 Compare the family of the lycopodiaceae of the old 
 red sandstone, or Devonian epochs, such as Lcpidoden- 
 dron Stci-nhci-gii, which attained the height of forty feet 
 and upwards, with the small but elegant and beautiful 
 species of lycopodium, or club-moss, at present existing, 
 a new species of which I wvis fortunate enough to dis- 
 cover living up Cumberland Bay, when away on my boat 
 expedition ; a mere creeping plant, scarcely showing 
 itself above the scanty surrounding herbaceous vegetation, 
 and, remarkable enough, was the only specimen found 
 during the stay of the expedition at the island. I picked 
 it up with a small new species of fern in the same tuft, 
 and never met with either again, although I directed my 
 
 fell 
 
 t|i 
 
 • :> M 
 
;BgBSTr..G 
 
 ■ I ni I . Be 
 
 J f 
 
 ■■ ; I 
 
 I 
 
 f * ' 
 
 \ ">■ 
 
 m 
 
 96 
 
 Voyages of Discovery, 
 
 boat's crew to keep a good look-out for any other 
 straggling specimens there might be. We discovered an 
 extensive bank, named after the ship, " Erebus Bank," and 
 a reef, named " Terror Reef," off the island. 
 
 
 Cumberland Bay and Sentry-box, with Foul Bay between the Arched Rock 
 and Cumberland Point, as seen from Summit of Crater Peak. 
 
 «■■ 
 
 1: .- ) 
 
 'I ! 
 
 I if' 
 
 1 
 
 It 
 
 iMJ 
 
 1 
 
Crater Peak, Christmas Harbour. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Our boatswain drowned — Sighting the Soutli-west Cape— Severe gales — 
 Our sails blown into ribbons — Reach Tasmania — At tiic tlieatre, 
 Hobart Town — A complimentary dinner — An invitation from Sir 
 John Franklin, governor of the island— The firtt house built in the 
 colony — Richmond — A kangaroo hunt — A horse-race — Going to 
 Government House Ball under difficulties. 
 
 Friday, July i ']th. — Unmoored after breakfast ; but the 
 weather again coming on thick and threatening, we 
 remained at single anchor. 1 finished arranging and 
 packing my birds of the island, some half-hundred, and 
 took a sketch of the foss'l-^vood rock of basalt. 
 
 Saturday, iSf/i. — Still detained by boisterous weather. 
 
 Monday, 20///. — We got under weigh early this morn- 
 ing, sailing out of the harbour at eight a.m., and took our 
 iinal leave of Kerguelen's Land ; Terror \\xst ahead of us. 
 I took a sketch of the Crater Hill as we passed out. 
 Sky very lowering and threatening, with a rapidly-flying 
 scud, the land soon becoming concealed in thick gloom. 
 
 Vwl,. I. II 
 
 %Mi 
 
 -■ ! 
 
rmwr7' 
 
 |i 
 
 98 
 
 1^ 
 
 s ; 
 
 ;l ' 
 
 I'd' 
 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 ^;. 
 
 Both ships under double-reefed top-sails, storm stay-sail, 
 and jib, going about six knots. Shipped a sea or two 
 and made all snug for the night by close-reefing the top- 
 sails. As we passed out of the harbour I noticed that 
 four ridges superimposed the coal-seam forming the 
 •.jinmit of the cliff ; these ridges, both at Cape Franfois 
 and Arched Point, dipping to the north at an angle 
 of 15°. 
 
 Wednesday, 2gth. — The continued blowing weather 
 we have experienced since leaving the harbour increased 
 <r> JL heavy gale from the westward this evening, before 
 in'hicli we scudded under close-reefed fore and main-top- 
 •aiis 
 
 Havifif"* s'!en nothing of the Terror since last evening 
 :.!" se'^en o • > .v, when she was some seven miles off, we 
 had c iay-tc .^- f>r' from eight a.m., and did not bear up 
 until 3.30 p.m. 
 
 Thursday y yith. — At 2.40 p.m. we met with a sad loss 
 in our boatswain, Mr. Roberts, who, whilst employed with 
 two men near the lee-gangway on the port side, was struck 
 by the staysail sheet, and whirled overboard by a sudden 
 lurch the ship took at the time. The life-buoy was im- 
 mediately let go, and several oars thrown overboard, both 
 quarter-boats — the first and second cutters — were lowered 
 as soon as the way in which they had been secured against 
 the bad weather of late would permit of ; but unhappily 
 too late, poor fellow, to save him. I happened to be 
 walking the quarter-deck when the melancholy accident 
 occurred, and saw the whole affair. He swam very 
 strongly and high out of the water for some time, but the 
 ship having been going through the water at the rate of 
 six knots at the time, he was rapidly dropped astern before 
 she could be hove-to. The last I saw of him was as he rose 
 on the top of a wave, where a gigantic petrel or two were 
 whirling over his head, and might have struck him with 
 their powerful wings or no less powerful beak, for he dis- 
 
Shipping Heavy Seas. 
 
 99 
 
 appeared all at once between two seas. Our first boat 
 returned, having picked up his hat and one of the men's 
 caps. The other boat, sent to pick up the life-buoy, was 
 near losing two hands, a sea having struck her and 
 washed two of the crew overboard, but they succeeded in 
 regaining the boat again. It was 4.20 p.m. before the 
 boats were, at a great risk, secured again. 
 
 Wednesday, August 12th. — At nine a.m. saw the land 
 to windward on the port bow. South-West Cape, being 
 seven or eight leagues distant, appeared very indistinctly 
 through the haze, and a bank of clouds in the horizon in 
 the form of a line of hummocks, Hobart Town being dead 
 to windward. Yesterday my Httle tortoise from St. Helena 
 I found in the morning dead on the floor of my cabin. From 
 Kerguelen's Land to Van Diemen's Land, a distance of 
 between 3000 and 4000 miles, we had a succession of 
 heavy gales and boisterous weather, shipping heavy, green 
 seas, in which the ship rolled tremendously, getting her 
 decks flooded, accompanied by smart hail-storms, some of 
 the hailstones measuring half an inch in diameter. 
 
 The Southern Cross now appears in a reversed position, 
 having the " pointers " above. The last remaining goose 
 was killed the other day. This afternoon, coming on to 
 blow hard, the ship was hove-to, with her head to the 
 southward and westward ; and before the evening closed 
 in the gale increased to a perfect hurricane, which, with 
 the mountainous sea running, raising the foam and spray 
 from the surface, drove like mist or smoke, obscuring 
 everything ahead of us ; the barometer, rising and falling 
 rapidly, only a little above 28° at the highest. Whilst I 
 was on deck, from seven to 8.30 p.m., we shipped some 
 very heavy seas ; one vast, swelling, green mountain of a 
 sea came rolling up astern, threatening to engulf us, 
 sweeping over the starboard quarter-boat, in upon the 
 quarter-deck, which it deluged, drenching me to the skin, 
 as I clung to the mizen-mast, catching hold of some gear 
 
 H 2 
 
 
 ■'*1 i 
 
'. 
 
 lOO 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 ■ 
 
 to avoid being washed overboard, for as she surged 
 everything on deck found its way into the lee-scuppers or 
 overboard. The sails were taken in with great difficulty, 
 till we were reduced to a close-reefed main-topsail. When 
 about eight p.m., in the height of all the fury of the blast, 
 the main-topsail sheet was blown away, and the sail shivered 
 into ribbons, the battered, torn fragments flapping in the 
 wind with a sharp, snapping sound, like the report of 
 so many pistols. A new main-staysail — the only sail left 
 on the ship — soon shared the same fate, leaving us 
 under bare poles ; in such a tempest not a stitch of 
 canvas had a chance even of standing against it. The 
 night was moonlight, and the scud was flying rapidly over 
 the surface of the pale orb. Captain Ross maintained his 
 position on the weather-quarter by having three turns of 
 the mizen-topsail halyards round him for support. 
 Towards the close of the first watch the gale began 
 somewhat to abate, but still blew hard throughout the 
 night. On the following morning a very heavy sea was 
 running, but there was less wind. We had the hatches 
 battened down all day, with lighted candles in the gun- 
 room. 
 
 Monday^ August \']th, 1840. — Yesterday we made the 
 land to windward, working up Storm Bay, but could 
 not fetch into Adventure Bay. In the evening saw the 
 Iron-Pot Lighthouse, and after firing guns for a pilot, 
 anchored about midnight some four miles below the light- 
 house ; and this morning at 9.30 we weighed anchor, 
 and with squally weather worked up the Derwent. About 
 noon we hoisted the Jack and fired guns for a pilot. 
 At 12.30 the pilot came on board ; we passed to the left 
 of the Iron-Pot Lighthouse, a square tower on a small, 
 barren, sandy rock. Betsy Island to the right, covered 
 with wood. The banks, both of Storm Bay and the 
 River Derwent, are densely clothed with wood, but the 
 colour of the foliage being of one uniform dull green, 
 
Arrival at Hobart Toxvn, Tasmania 
 
 lOI 
 
 with the absence of the varied tints of light and shade, 
 gives to the whole landscape a monotonous aspect, not- 
 withstanding the richness, and even luxuriance of the 
 vegetation. The gum-tree and other forms of eucalyptus, 
 so prevalent here, shed their bark, instead of their leaves, 
 the latter appearing with the under-surface upwards, or 
 with the leaves occurring transversely, one above the 
 other. The lofty white, barkless t^unk of the gum- 
 tree, shining like the silvery stem of a birch through the 
 dense foliage somewhat relieves the otherwise sombre 
 appearance of Australian forests in the distance. The 
 entrance to Storm Bay is between Tasman's Head and 
 Cape Raoul, these headlands being about thirty miles 
 apart. The breadth of the bay where the Derwent begins 
 is about twelve miles across, and the river is six miles 
 wide at its entrance from the lighthouse, from which 
 Hobart Town is twelve miles distant. The course of 
 the Derwent is about N.W., averaging from two to five 
 miles across as it approaches the town. 
 
 On the port-side we passed in succession several 
 beautiful glades in the woods, shelving down to the 
 water's edge, with pretty farmsteads surrounded by highly 
 cultivated patches. One villa-like residence especially, 
 and evidently of recent erection, made its appearance 
 some four or five miles from Hobart Town, between 
 which lies an excellent road. The young corn looked 
 everywhere very green and promising. The wind failing 
 us at 5.15 p.m., we came to an anchor in twelve and a 
 half fathoms, off Fort Mulgrave. The approach to 
 Hobart Town is very picturesque, the houses appearing 
 thickly scattered amongst trees and green slopes, on the 
 sides of undulating hills studded here and there with a 
 windmill. We found that our consort the Terror had 
 arrived at ten p.m. on Saturday ; her captain and 
 several of her officers came on board, bringing us letters. 
 Several of us went on shore to the theatre, it being the 
 
 If 
 
 ' '1 
 
 ■B 
 
ilTTT 
 
 102 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 i-H 
 
 \ I 
 
 I- ■ 
 
 f I i 
 
 M 
 
 last night of the performance for the season. The play 
 was " Rory O'More," and the afterpiece "The Irish 
 Tutor." It concluded at 12.30 p.m., and we returned 
 on board in the guard-boat. 
 
 Tuesday, \%th. — Weather very fine, the ships were 
 warped alongside of the Government paddock, and 
 moored in from five to seven fathoms. Having answered 
 a letter from Sir William Hooker, in reference to his 
 son's (Dr. Joseph Hooker, the assistant-surgeon) state 
 of health and fitness for the arduous service he had 
 embarked in, I went at noon on board the Australian 
 packet-ship getting under way for Sydney. Afterwards 
 several officers of the 51st Regiment quartered here 
 came on board of us, and amongst them, our old acquaint- 
 ance, Captain Foreman, whom we had met at Chatham. 
 At 3 p.m. I landed at the dockyard, and also called at 
 the Colonial Hospital ; then, after taking a stroll round 
 the town, returned on board in a pilot-boat at six p.m. 
 Saw in the United Service Gazette the report of the 
 Commission on the new Medical Regulations for the 
 Navy. 
 
 Wednesday, \gt/i. — Dr. James Wingate Johnstone, of 
 the Asia, convict-ship, came on board, and several 
 officers of the 51st Regiment. It was a beautiful day, 
 and at six p.m. we left the ship, to dine at the mess of 
 the 51st, to which the captains and officers of both ships 
 had received invitation ; with three or four civilians from 
 the shore, we made up a party of thirty-five. I fell into 
 a seat on the left of the president, Captain Foreman, and 
 for the first time in my Hfe tasted kangaroo soup and 
 the bronze-winged pigeon of the island. The major gave 
 a toast, accompanied by a complimentary speech in 
 honour of the expedition, which was replied to by Captain 
 Ross. 
 
 Friday, 20th. — Mr. Anstey, a barrister of Hobart 
 Town, came on board, and invited me to dine with him 
 
First Visit to Risdon. 
 
 103 
 
 on the following day, at 6.30 p.m., where I met a surgeon, 
 a Mr. Bedford and his wife. Left at 10.30 p.m. and 
 returned on board, having about midday lunched at 
 the barracks, where I saw the eagle, tiger-cat, and kan- 
 garoo of the island. 
 
 Sunday, I'^d. — At eleven a.m. I attended divine ser- 
 vice at the town church, and afterwards called at the 
 Derwent Tavern, on Dr. Johnstone, who, with another 
 brother officer, Peter Fisher, and Captain Foreman, after 
 a stroll round Sandy Bay, dined on board with me. 
 
 Monday, 2\th. — Dr. Clarke, the Inspector-General of 
 the Forces, with his brother-in-law and Mr. Estridge, 
 the traveller, lunched on board with me. I received an 
 invitation card from the Governor, Sir John Franklin, to 
 dine at Government House to-day, at 6.30 p.m. Twenty 
 sat down to table. I was introduced to Sir John and 
 Lady Franklin by Captain Ross. At eight p.m. we ad- 
 journed to the library, to hear a paper read by the Rev. 
 Mr. Lillie, it being the night of the meeting of the 
 Tasmanian Natural History Society, which takes place 
 on alternate Mondays. 
 
 Tuesday, i^th. — After breakfast. Captain Foreman 
 called alongside for me in his boat, for a trip up the river 
 to Risdon, about four miles distant ; Hooker, the assisi:ant- 
 surgeon of the Erebus, accompanied us ; the weather 
 fine. On our way up the river, Mr. Gregson, the gentle- 
 man we were to visit, was riding on the left bank for 
 Hobart Town. We landed, and I was introduced to him, 
 who subsequently became one of my most valued friends. 
 He had been one of the guests at the dinner given to 
 us by the mess of the 51st. Captain Foreman having 
 introduced me to Gregson, he continued his journey on 
 to Hobart Town, and we ours to the ferry at Risdon, 
 where we landed and walked on to the house, about a 
 mile from the ferry, most picturesquely situated on a 
 rising knoll, embosomed in trees, and perfectly isolated, 
 
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 approached by a winding road skirting the creek, where 
 his boat is kept, for most part of the way having a 
 thickly-wooded hill on the right, upon a foundation of 
 argillaceous rock. After partaking of some refreshment 
 with the family of our newly-made friends, we took a 
 ramble round the grounds, and in company with our 
 host's eldest son, John, I shot several small birds for 
 the ornithological collection, with Foreman's gun, not 
 having my own with me at the time. We returned to 
 the house just before dinner-time. 
 
 Wediics(fny, 26t/i. — We did not retire to rest till one 
 o'clock this morning. I arose at eight a.m. and strolled 
 to the bottom of the garden, sketched the old ruins of 
 the first house ever built on the island, by its first 
 governor. Colonel Collins. For it was on this spot the 
 first colonists established themselves, attracted to it by 
 the fine stream of fresh water running near. It now 
 forms the summer-house of the family, and the hives for 
 their bees. After breakfast my host's eldest son accom- 
 panied me in the ascent of Mount Direction, a remarkable 
 hill, forming a very conspicuous object, as seen from the 
 ship, bounding the curve of the river in the distance. 
 We made our way up its steep sides, through woods of 
 gum-trees, and the black and silver wattles ; many of 
 the trees appeared much blackened and charred near 
 the base, and on the summit withered trunks and 
 branches were strewed about ; a rude signal-post, or 
 what had originally been intended for one, crowns the 
 highest peak. From this spot I had a fine view of the 
 windings of the Derwent below, with its many little points 
 and promontories jutting into the stream on either side. 
 The New Norfolk steamer was passing at the time ; the 
 day was fine, and so warm that I perspired from every 
 pore. Saw several paroquets, and shot two blue titmice 
 and a lark returning. 
 
 In the afternoon we started for the township of Rich- 
 
h- 
 
 KatK^aroo Hunt and Jiall at Government House. 105 
 
 niond, nine miles distant, in Grcjijson's car, alon*; a beau- 
 tiful and picturesque road called the Siinplon, forming 
 magnificent curves and deeply-wooded glens ; these, 
 again, backed by hills densely clothed with gum-trees to 
 the summits. At about half-way on the left is Grass-tree 
 Hill, on which are two or three huts, forming the quarters 
 of an officer and his party stationed there. Dined at 
 Mr. Breton's, the police magistrate of Richmond, a 
 half-pay lieutenant in the navy. He showed me his 
 collection of fossils and other productions of the island. 
 Here I met the first lieutenant and surgeon of the Terror. 
 We slept at the Lennox Arms Hotel. 
 
 Thursday, 2'jtli. — Rose at eight a.m., and walked 
 round the township, up a hill by the small coal-river, 
 where the coal has been worked ; - ^turned to the inn 
 for breakfast ; when Hooker and myself drove in Greg- 
 son's carriage to Grass-tree Hill "to see a kangaroo hunt, 
 with Gregson's pack of hounds. Found him there on 
 horseback, accompanied by ( 'lonel Elliott, of the 51st 
 Regiment. The weather was fine, and two kangaroos 
 were started. I saw one of them leap across the road 
 at some distance, followed by the barking and yelping 
 dogs ; they, however, gave the dogs a long run, taking 
 the hill side into the dense woods ; both were soon out 
 of sight and hearing. We learnt subsequently that one 
 had been killed some miles off by the dogs. About noon 
 we returned to Richmond, and at one started for the 
 lacc-course, to see a match between " Randolph " and 
 " Waterloo," two celebrated horses here. The latter 
 ran away with his rider, and actually went four times 
 round the course before he could haul him in, and then 
 darted into the woods, but fortunately without injury 
 either to horse or man. Lunched at Lieutenant Breton's 
 with Colonel Elliott and several other officers, and some 
 gentlemen of the neighbourhood. When on the race- 
 ground, the weather was showery. Amongst the number 
 
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 of country people present, one young girl in a riding- 
 habit, having the appearance of a yeoman's daughter, was 
 thrown from her horse, but regained her saddle instanter, 
 as if nothing had happened, so coolly was it done. About 
 five p.m. we left the inn with Mr. Gregson, for Risdon, and 
 after dining there, I very reluctantly left a most agreeable, 
 pleasant party to pull four miles in Gregson's boat, against 
 a head-wind and beating rain, in a dark, tempestuous 
 night, to attend a ball at Government House, given by 
 Sir John Franklin in honour of the arrival of the Antarctic 
 Expedition, from which, of course, there could be no 
 excuse for my absence. At 8.30 p.m. young Gregson 
 accompanied me to the top of the creek, where his boat 
 was ready to receive me, with two hands. Soon after I 
 had embarked, the creek being narrow, about half a mile 
 in length, we took the ground in the mud on the port 
 side, but soon got her afloat again. It was pitch dark, 
 and on getting clear of the creek, the wind shifting, blew 
 up the river in our teeth, so that we did not get alongside 
 the Ercbtis before 10.30 p.m., first making for the Terror 
 by mistake, in the cimmerian darkness of the night. 
 Having changed my dress for full uniform, I got on 
 board, and landed again at 1 1.15 p.m. 
 
 I entered the ball-room at a much later hour than I 
 had anticipated when I left Risdon, it being exactly mid- 
 night. Sir John Franklin and his aide-de-camp received 
 me very kindly at the ball-room door, and Captain Ross, 
 coming up to me, offered to get me a partner in the 
 dance, a waltz then going on, which I declined, as I do 
 not dance. Many of the company had already left, and 
 carriages were in waiting at the door. The night proving 
 so unfavourable, there were many absentees. I left at 
 two a.m., and slept at the Derwent Hotel. In the ball- 
 room I received two invitations ; one from the solicitor- 
 general, and the other from the commissary-general. 
 
 Sunday, 30///. — I attended morning service at the 
 
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 Ejubarkation of Natural History Specimens. io7 
 
 town church, and made a call at the barracks ; met the 
 solicitor-general there, from whom I received an invitation 
 to dine this evening, to meet Captain Foreman and 
 another military captain. 
 
 Monday, 31^/. — Dined at the military mess with the 
 assistant-surgeon of the regiment ; after which we all 
 attended a concert held in the theatre. 
 
 Tuesday, September \st. — Called on Anstey, the soli- 
 citor-general, and Dr. Clark ; from the latter I received 
 an invitation to dine with him at the mess. Visited the 
 Union Club. Received a note from Lieutenant Breton 
 with a parcel of birds' skins from Richmond, and a 
 message from Captain Ross, to get ready the specimens 
 of natural history for embarkation on board a ship for 
 England via Sydney. 
 
 Wednesday, 2nd. — I was employed arranging the 
 specimens in Captain Ross's cabin, and had several 
 visitors ; the Rev. Mr. Lillie, Lieutenant Breton, and 
 Captain Foreman ; all of whom dined on board with me, 
 and J asked Dr. Hooker to meet them. Mr. Anstey and 
 a naval lieutenant also formed part of our dinner-party. 
 
 Thursday, ^^rd. — Employed all day packing specimens 
 and writing descriptions of them, till 6.30 p.m., when I 
 dined at the military mess. 
 
 Monday, ^th. — At seven p.m. I dined at Government 
 House, fourteen sitting down to table ; Sir John Franklin 
 in the centre of the table, between Captain Ross and 
 myself. On adjourning to the library a paper on the 
 geological structure of a hill on the island was read by 
 Mr. Lillie ; another on New Zealand by Mr. Estridge. 
 
 Monday, 21st. — Dined at Sir John Franklin's. Twenty 
 guests present. At eleven p.m. three papers were read 
 at the Natural History Society's Meeting. 
 
 Saturday, October 2,rd. — At three p.m. Lady Franklin, 
 accompanied by her niece, Miss Cracroft, and her 
 daughter and governess, visited the ship, escorted by 
 
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 the two captains, calling alongside the Terror on their 
 way. 
 
 Monday, e^th. — Dined at Sir John Franklin's. Met 
 Lieutenant Breton at table, and afterwards I read a 
 paper on the geology of Kerguelen's Land at the Natural 
 History Society's Meeting. 
 
 Tuesday, 6th. — Judge Montagu came on board to 
 kindly offer me a seat in his carriage, with another for 
 my friend and boating companion. Lieutenant Phillips, 
 on a drive across the island to Launceston, as he was 
 about attending the assizes. 
 
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 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A drive across tlie island to Launcestoii — Over Jordan and through 
 Jericho— Tlie Valeof Jerusalem — Campbell Town— Epping Forest 
 — Ornithological specimens— Excursion down the Tamar to George 
 Town— Return on horseback — Convicts on a sheep farm — A fossil- 
 tree. 
 
 Sunday, October wtli. — At seven a.m. I went on board 
 the Teryo)' for my old friend, Lieutenant Phillips, and, 
 after breakfasting with him, we landed at the Paddock, 
 and at the old wharf Judge Montagu's carriage, with a 
 pair of greys, was coming down the hill from his house. 
 The morning was fine, with a fresh breeze. 
 
 At eleven miles from HobartTown passed the " Black 
 Snake Inn," next over a causeway, and across Bridge- 
 water Ferry ; a limestone quarry at the causeway dips 
 at an angle of 15° to the south-east. "Castle Inn" 
 stands on the left. Passed by Brighton and the River 
 
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 Jordan, a narrow stream, at 11.15 a.m. We made our 
 first resting-place at " Maule's Inn," where we lunched 
 on some cold turkey. At the plains of Bagdad, seven- 
 teen miles from Hobart Town, we called on Lieutenant 
 Foster, R.N., the police magistrate, living in a newly- 
 built residence, Green Ponds. At twenty-seven miles 
 we alighted, and walked over Constitution Hill, on the 
 left of which is a thickly-wooded glen, and on the 
 right a bed of sandstone dipping at an angle of 15° to 
 the north-west. The road forms a fine sweep round 
 the glen below, strikingly resembling the Simplon at 
 Richmond, passing through trappean rocks. On re- 
 entering the carriage, we crossed the plain of Green 
 Ponds. Here is the oldest inn in the colony, called the 
 " Royal Oak," where I had a glass of Hobart Town ale 
 handed me by a very pretty landlady. At thirty miles 
 passed Cross Marsh, having a number of cattle feeding 
 in a good pasturage. Mount Vernon, the residence of 
 Mr. Kemp, appears at some distance to the left of the 
 road, embosomed in woods and pasture-lands. We next 
 passed through a rich and fertile tract, well named 
 Lovely Banks, from the beautiful, soft landscape of green 
 pasturage, studded over with lightly-wooded knolls and 
 sloping banks clothed with shrubs and trees. At present 
 " Lovely Banks Inn " is not anything more than a dilapi- 
 dated, deserted, old house, on the left side of the road. 
 Thirty-six miles from Hobart Town at 4.15 p.m., we 
 took up our quarters for the night at the " London Inn." 
 Spring Hill, four miles farther on ; I walked through the 
 garden at the back of the house, up the hill, the summit 
 of which was composed of trappean rocks. We had 
 kangaroo cutlets for tea, and I afterwards looked for 
 opossums by moonlight up the hill, turning in at 
 10.30 p.m. 
 
 Monday, 12///. — Resumed our journey at five a.m. 
 Mr. McDowall, the attorney-general, whom we met at the 
 
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 T/ie Vale of Jertisalem. 
 
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 inn last night, is going the same road as ourselves, to 
 attend the assizes at Launceston. Half a mile from 
 " Spring Hill Inn," and about half a mile to the left of 
 the road, is a deep gulley, at the extremity of which 
 stands a small hut, in which a horrible murder was com- 
 mitted by the natives a few years ago. Two miles 
 farther on we passed Jericho, about a mile to the left of 
 which stands an estate forming a group of buildings at 
 the base of the hills, which had belonged to my friend, 
 Mr. Gregson. Near the road is the church ; and to the 
 right the Vale of Jerusalem appeared flat, and studded 
 with clumps of wood, bearing a striking resemblance in 
 its general aspect to some parks of Somersetshire. On 
 Fourteen Tree Plain I saw a great number of parrots 
 and black and white magpies. The charred stumps and 
 fallen trees, with withered, standing ones, presented a 
 desolate scene, flanking a part of the road to the right. 
 Forty-three miles from Hobart Town is Lemon Springs, 
 and Anstey Barton, the residence of Barrister Anstey's 
 father, lying amongst woods to the left. I saw the sum- 
 mit of Table Mountain, bearing north-west. At Oatlands, 
 fifty miles, we breakfasted at the " Oatlands Inn," and 
 there are four others in the township, which is situated 
 on a plain. Whilst breakfast was getting ready, I strolled 
 over the marsh, which is some miles in circumference, a 
 complete mud-level, having the appearance of a drained 
 lake in a sandstone formation. At 8.15 a.m. we started. 
 The face of the country has now undergoi.e a change. 
 Instead of the hilly, rugged, trappean rock formation, we 
 come upon undulating, sandstone slopes, on which large 
 flocks of sheep were grazing. From Antills, fifty-three 
 miles, the road to Tunbridge lies through beautiful, park- 
 like plains, glowing with the golden-yellow hue of the 
 wattle blossom, a beautiful shrub, very abundantly 
 distributed here. Gorze, or furze- bloom, even rivals 
 the wattle in the richness and depth of its yellow 
 
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 colour, scenting the atmosphere all round with its sweet 
 fragrancy. 
 
 On the left side of the road, a few miles from Tun- 
 bridge, Mr. Harrison's elegant-looking villa, with its 
 verandahs and doorways entwined in flowers and ever- 
 greens, the whole emSosomed in its gardens well stocked 
 with shrubs, and backed by densely-wooded hills, have a 
 most striking effect. The yellow wattle flourishes here 
 in the richest luxuriance, numerous flocks of sheep 
 feeding on the green pastures. Saltpan Lakes lay to the 
 right of us. At 10.15 'i-"^- ^'^^^ t^*^ mountain called 
 Quamby's Bluff, bearing north-west from the inn, beyond 
 which lie some plains. In passing through the small 
 township of Ross, we crossed a bridge over the river. 
 Just beyond this is a Mr. Horn's estate, whose son was 
 barbarously murdered by the natives some time ago. 
 Between Ross and Campbell Town is a gravelly plain 
 and open valley, with a fine tiew of the mountain, Ben 
 Lomond, in the distance. Here, for the first time, I saw 
 two of the large gagle-hawks hovering overhead. We 
 alighted at the " Fox-Hunter's Return," a comfortable 
 inn in Campbell Town, seventy-six miles from Hobart 
 Town. Crossed a bridge over the Macquarie River, and 
 strolled through the township — a mere village. Four 
 ranges of hills seen from this have a remarkable 
 appearance, table-topped, and sloping to the north-east ; 
 Quamby's Bluff con^-picuous. After lunching at the inn, 
 we started again at 3.10 p.m. 
 
 A sudden turn in the road brought us to Epping Forest, 
 the entrance to which is striking and beautiful. An 
 excellent turnpike-road, flanked on either side by lofty, 
 forest trees, taking a straight course for a considerable 
 distance, presents a fine, extended vista in the prospec- 
 tive. But the very sameness throughout so many miles 
 becomes tedious and monotonous before we get clear of 
 it. I shot three magpies, three parrots, and a miner. 
 
 :!!! 
 
Pass through Epptng Forest. 
 
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 All these birds were abundant, crossing the road in flocks. 
 Near the extremity of the forest we took up our quarters 
 for the night at the " Eagle," a small inn on the left side 
 of the road, and the only one in the forest. We alighted 
 at seven p.m., and having had tea and eggs at eight p.m. 
 — it being a fine, moonlight night — I went up the hill at 
 the back of the house into the dense forest, opossum 
 shooting ; but, after searching the tall trees for some two 
 hours for a considerable distance, I only met with one, 
 which I shot as it was sitting on the stump of the stem 
 of a lofty tree, to which it made an effort to cling by its 
 tail on finding itself wounded, but in a few seconds, relax- 
 ing its hold, it fell to the ground ; and had it not been shot 
 through the head dead, I should most certainly have lost it. 
 
 Tuesday^ I'^tli. — Passed through the township of 
 Perth ; we crossed the bridge over the South Esk, and, 
 approaching Launceston, Cocked-Hat Hill, so named 
 from its supposed resemblance to that shaped hat ; it is 
 a very conspicuous object. Launceston appeared skirt- 
 ing the sides of a valley, half-concealed in a volume of 
 white mist and vapour suspended over it, and filling the 
 valley. We entered the town at 8.30 a.m., alighting at 
 the judge's quarters. Government Cottage. I walked up 
 Signal-Staff Hill, and lunched at about noon. 
 
 We shoved off fiom the harbour in a boat manned 
 by four hands. Fine weather on leaving the wharf. 
 The river is formed by the junction of the North 
 and South Esks, and makes a narrow curve in the 
 first reach, afterwards expanding out. At five miles from 
 Launceston is Pig Island, At Fresh-Water Point it 
 contracts again to from half, or even a quarter, of a mile 
 across ; reached this point, eight miles, at 3. 15 p.m. The 
 water thus far is quite fresh ; beyond this it widens out 
 to two miles, having the Nelson Shoals on the right and 
 Ship Channel on the left (eleven miles). At 4.15 p.m. 
 passed Cemetiere Point and the " Mermaid Inn." In 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 the next reach is Swan Bay, and at twenty-one miles 
 Swan Point with Egg Island. Mount-Royal signal-station 
 on the hill to the right very strikingly resembles Mount 
 Direction on the Derwent, near Risdon. It is the half- 
 way mark to George Town. At Spring Bay (twenty-four 
 miles) the river again expands considerably. The recent 
 clearance in the woods here, with a log hdt or two, marks 
 the commencement of a new settler's life, with some 
 cattle feeding. Beyond this, at thirty miles, is Whirl- 
 pool Reach, which we reached at 6.15 p.m. The worst 
 part of the navigation of the river, being very narrow, 
 leaves bare room for ships to pass. Buoys point out the 
 danger, a ledge of rocks in the centre, having a foaming 
 eddy and ripple over them. After passing several other 
 points and Redwood Island, we entered the last reach to 
 George Town (Moriarty's), thirty-two miles, at 6.45 p.m. 
 The river now opens out to one and a half miles in width, 
 with Middle Island. The evening just closing in and 
 getting dark before we reached our destination, little 
 could be seen of our last stage in the voyage. 
 
 The course of the Tamar is far less varied and 
 interesting than the Derwent. The wooded hills, ave- 
 raging 500 feet in height, present the greatest sameness 
 and monotony throughout. The only birds I saw on 
 the passage were four black swans, a few gulls, and 
 a shag. At 8.30 p.m. we arrived at George Town, and 
 passed the evening at Lieutenant Friend's, to whom 
 we had an introduction; and at 11.15 piTi- took up 
 our quarters for the night at Mrs. Wilson's hotel. 
 
 Wednesday, \\th. — Strolled into the woods and shot 
 two of the native cuckoos, and, after breakfasting with 
 Lieutenant Friend, R.N., mounted horses and rode out to 
 the lighthouse, four miles, along a rugged, very primitive 
 sort of road, by the banks of the river. As we were 
 approaching a gate, the horse I rode, a wild, untrained, 
 and high-spirited animal, made a desperate effort to 
 
y/i'zo 0/ Bass's Strai/, from suniviit of LiglUhousc. \ 1 5 
 
 run away with me, and, after nearly unhorsinj^r nu;, I had 
 no small difficulty in curbing him in his headlong 
 course before reaching the gate against which he ap- 
 peared to be very indifferi;nt about dashing himself and 
 me. We, however, reached the lighthouse on Lowhead at 
 9.20 a.m. safe and sound. On ascending to the top of 
 the lighthouse, which is situated on a low, sandy neck of 
 land, barely three-quarters of a mile in length, we had a 
 fine view of Bass's Strait, Barren Island, and the coast 
 to the right and left, from the gallery outside of the 
 lanthorn, consisting of fifteen lamps forming a circle in 
 three divisions of five in each. The Tamaf is here three 
 miles across. 
 
 Soon after our return to George Town, Mr. Friend and 
 his wife accompanied us in their own boat up to Laun- 
 ceston, transferred, however, at Spring Bay to the 
 harbour-master's boat, or sloop, in which we sailed to 
 Launceston, with a fresh breeze, arriving at six p.m. 
 We met Count Strelecki on landing, dined at the 
 "Steamboat Inn" with the Friends, and slept at the 
 Government Cottage. 
 
 TImrsday, i ^th. — Breakfasted at Government Cottage, 
 called on the Friends, and at "Dr. Pugh's, where we found 
 Count Strelecki at breakfast. I took a stroll through 
 the town ; a neat, quiet place, containing some good 
 shops, an exchange and news-room, both of which I 
 visited. It is a smaller and less bustling town than 
 Hobart Town, but situated in the midst of a fertile country. 
 Vessels lay close alongside the wharfs. Judge Montagu 
 having finished the duties of his circuit, we lunched at one, 
 and left Launceston on our return at two p.m. The 
 morning showery, but it afterwards cleared up fine. 
 Had a glass of ale at the " Perth Hotel." The bridge 
 here is built entirely of greenstone. We alighted at the 
 " Eagle Inn " in Epping Forest at 5.30 p.m., where I had 
 a young dead kangaroo given me. 
 
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 We arrived at the " Fox-hunter's Hotel," Campbell 
 Town, at 1 1.45 p.m., where we took up our quarters for 
 the night. 
 
 Friday, xdth. — Started at 6.30 a.m., passing the late 
 Dr. Pearson's estate, whieh the judge told us was for sale 
 at 50,000/., and that 45,000/. had been offered for it. 
 We reached Tunbridge at 8.30 a.m., the stage-coach 
 passing us on the road. Breakfasted at the inn here, 
 when the judge most kindly proposed to send liis carriage 
 home and mount horses ourselves, and ride back by the 
 lake region, thus affording us a change of route and an 
 opportunity of seeing more of the country by a return 
 over the Western Tiers. 
 
 I mounted a favourite grey pony of the judge, named 
 " Polly;" Phillips a large black horse, called " Cossack;" 
 and Montagu himself bestrode " Comet," a very fine 
 blood horse. The weather was cloudy, with a fresh 
 breeze. Crossing a branch of Blackman's River, we 
 shaped a westerly course, and through a wood, where a 
 ilock of black cockatoos were flying heavily along, slowly 
 flapping their large wings, not unlike the lopping flight of 
 our own lapwing, now and then sending forth a harsh 
 scream, as they changed their position from one tree to 
 another. I alighted from my horse, and was tempted to 
 give chase to them, in the hope of securing a specimen or 
 two for the ornithological collection, but I found them far 
 too wary to allow of my getting within shot of them in 
 the brief space of time I could spaic to follow them up. 
 On remounting my steed, I had to ride at a smart pace to 
 enable me to overtake my companions, a stern chase being 
 proverbially a long one. We now struck off through 
 thick woods of lofty trees, and up a range of hills of con- 
 siderable height, having a base of greenstone, upon which 
 rested a stratum of sandstone, again capped by green- 
 stone, which formed the summit, and this we reached at 
 three p.m. Our fine weather seems to have deserted 
 
Return by the Lakes auef Western Tiers. 1 1 7 
 
 us for thick mist and drizzling rain, denoting that vvc 
 were entering upon a mountain region. Saw a kangaroo 
 in the woods. At 3.15 p.m. we skirted the margin of 
 Lake Sorrell, a fine sheet of water some five or six miles 
 in length, and about the same in breadth at its wid(!St 
 part. Towards its southern extremity its form becomes 
 irregular, from the number of wooded promontories jutting 
 into it. Off the south-west shore is a small islet, on the 
 opposite side to that on which we made the lake. Saw 
 two of those majestic birds, the black swans, swimming on 
 it. The margin of the lake is wooded all round ; and as 
 we rode round to the right, sometimes passing through 
 woods, at others over fences, or along the little, sandy 
 beaches or coves of the lake, eight more black swans 
 {Cygnns airattis), with a few ducks and divers, made their 
 appearance. Between its southern extremity and Lake 
 Crescent is a flat, marshy tract, not half a mile across 
 at its narrowest part, covered with swampy grass, through 
 which runs a very narrow stream which connects the two 
 lakes. Lake Crescent is about four miles in length and 
 two in breadth, lying across the southern extremity of 
 Lake Sorrell. 
 
 We now had to ride through a tangled mass of trees 
 and bushes and over log fences to Mr. Kemp's stock-hut, 
 at the south-west corner of Lake Sorrell, which we reachtxl 
 at six p.m., amidst heavy continuous rain, drenched to the 
 skin ; the weather being thick, muggy, and heavy. The 
 hut is a small, low building of logs, with shingle roof and 
 a small square window or two, formed of four small, square 
 panes of glass each. Opposite was a stable, in which we 
 put our horses for the night, amid the loud barking and 
 yelping of some ferocious dogs. 
 
 Saturday, \']tli. — Having taken a hasty breakfast, we 
 continued our journey at 8.45 a.m. Our track lay through 
 a swampy ground of grass. We now shaped a south- 
 westerly course, through a wild and thickly-wooded 
 
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 country, for llic township of BothwcU. Near a stock-hut 
 we crossed a shallow river, and finally lost all traces of a 
 track ; for a few minutes we were undecided what course 
 to follow, when we came upon a cart-track, the impression 
 of the wheels barely perceptible on the grass. We had 
 now to leap over log-fences, formed by trunks and stems 
 of trees placed horizontally on each other, frequently 
 having to remove the uppermost one before the horses 
 would take them. 
 
 At 1 2.30 p.m. we descended a very steep hill of trappean 
 formation, down which we had to lead our horses, and 
 with great caution, to prevent their slipping down. We 
 crossed the river Clyde in our course. The ground was 
 generally swampy, and clothed with long grass ; in many 
 places the trees stood so thick that it required some 
 tacking and manoeuvring not only to steer clear of the 
 overhanging branches, but at the same time to look out 
 that the knees did not come in contact with the trunks as 
 we trotted through the woods. We entered the " Both- 
 well Inn "at two p.m., most thoroughly drenched, it having 
 rained incessantly throughout our last journey. W^e had 
 ridden not less than thirty miles. 
 
 Sunday, \%th. — I took a stroll through the little town- 
 ship, which consists of some half a hundred houses, half 
 a dozen of them respectable-looking ones. There is 
 another got d inn, the " Crown," in the place, opposite 
 to the " Bothwell Castle." The church is a white edifice. 
 The township lies in an almost circular valley, bounded 
 by a range of hills of moderate height. 
 
 At 10.15 'I"!- we again mounted our ho' 
 surface of the country now much improved in i. iiaucL, 
 swelling into picturesque and wooded hills ; , saw a 
 number of green paroquets. At 2.30 p.m. we alight d 
 from our horses on the summit of a fine, green, swelling 
 hill, commanding a charming prospect around ; the 
 township of Hamilton spread out in the centre of the 
 
/ 'isif to the celebrated Fossil Tree, Mixcqiiarie Plains. 1 1 9 
 
 grcfii valley bt'iieath us, with the loatl winclii\i; down it, 
 the church bein^ the most j)roininent objc'ct. I rode 
 down the descent on " Comet," having exchanged horses 
 with the judge. It was quite a pleasure to ride this high- 
 spirited blood horse, as he dashed with me ahead of the 
 party. At 3.15 p.m. we lunchi.-d at the " Hit or Miss Inn," 
 and left it at five p.m. From the hill above had the finest 
 view of the grounds of Laurenny stretching along a 
 beautifully wooded valley, terminated by a large mansion 
 at an angle of the hills. At dusk, 7.20 p.m., had tea ; and 
 took up our quarters for the night at the " Woolpack 
 Inn." 
 
 Monday^ \gtli. — Rose at 6.20 a.m., and after breakfast 
 continued our route, and paid a visit to the celebrated 
 fossil tree at the extremity of a narrow ridge of scoria- 
 ceous rock some seventy feet above the river, a stream 
 about twelve feet across, winding through a wooded 
 ravine 100 yards wide. The tree is of silvery white, with 
 a yellowish, brown, resinous colour at its base. It is six 
 feet in height, seven feet three inches in circumference, 
 lifleen inches in diameter at the top, having an exterior 
 covering of a loose, flocculent, siliceous substance, and 
 embedded in vesicular lava. The rock has been exca- 
 vated around it, and on either side are a few stunted 
 bushes. 
 
 The second tree had been completely enclosed in the 
 scoriaceous rock, forming a steep cliff, a short distance 
 only to the right, twenty feet above a curve in the river, 
 which here is not more than ten feet across, winding 
 through a grove of trees in a valley sixty yards wide. 
 Only a portion of this fossil tree remains at the top of 
 the chimney-shaped orifice in the rock. It has a very 
 opalescent appearance ; the lower portion has been re- 
 moved, leaving the impression on the surface-sides of the 
 lava for about seven feet downwards, and a foot in 
 diameter. Below this again, on the shelving portion of 
 
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 Voy(7gcs of Discovery, 
 
 the rock, a fragment of the lower part was embedded in 
 the soil, the whole trunk having been in a vertical posi- 
 tion. The summit of the cliff itself was about forty feet 
 above the river, having a green sloping hill opposite. 
 Regaining the road, we continued our route for nearly a 
 mile further to Mr. Barker's, the proprietor of the fossil 
 trees. His house is situated in a valley where the winding 
 of the river forms a peninsula in its reach. At 11.15 a.m. 
 Mr. Barker accompanied us over the green hill above 
 the house to a reach of the Derwent, about two miles 
 distant, to see the spot where two fossil trees had formerly 
 been embedded in lava on a low bank ; both had been in 
 a vertical position. A long, low, wooded island occupies 
 the middle of the river here, lying parallel with its banks. 
 We returned to the house at one p.m., where we dined. 
 At 2.15 p.m. we departed for New Norfolk along the 
 bank of the river nearly the whole way. At 3.20 p.m. 
 passed a sandstone cliff twenty feet in height, on the 
 left side of the road, dipping to the westward at an angle 
 of 40°. Here very singular masses of greenstone, nearly 
 cylindrical in form, and from eighteen to twenty inches 
 in diameter, and six feet in length, lay embedded in the 
 sandstone, pointing downwards on the road, like a tier 
 of cannt)n in a battery. In some spots dark shades, like 
 black dust scattered over the cliff, would appear to 
 indicate traces of coal. 
 
 I rode " Comet " into New Norfolk, where we took up 
 our quarters at five p.m. at the " Bush Inn," having 
 crossed the river over the floating wooden bridge. New 
 Norfolk, although pleasantly situated on the banks of the 
 Derwent, looks like a deserted village, so dull and quiet 
 is it. The steamer and the stage-coach arrived here 
 about the same time from Hobart Town. 
 
 Tuesday^ 20th. — Rose at five a.m, and mounting 
 " Comet," we started for Hobart Town ; the road 
 diverges from the river for about a mile, then again 
 

 Return to Ilohart Toivn. 
 
 121 
 
 following it closely for most of the way, passing several 
 sections of sandstone and limestone on the cliffs to 
 the right. Passed the " Black Snake Inn," and several 
 villas, through New Town down the lane to the river, 
 and across the paddock to the observatory, where 
 we alighted, and took our leave of the worthy judge, 
 through whose kindness we have had an opportunity of 
 seeing so much of the country in the short space of nine 
 days. We much enjoyed our excursion, notwithstanding 
 the very unfavourable w^eather returning. Met Sir John 
 Hammett, a brother officer of mine, at the " Derwent 
 Tavern." Captain Ross having a party of friends on 
 board to dinner, we could not get a boat to land us till 
 6.30 p.m., and were consequently too late for dinner at 
 the army mess, to which we had been invited. 
 
 Wednesday^ 2\st. — Showery weather. I breakfasted 
 with the Friends at the " Freemason's Hotel," and at 
 ten p.m. went to the governor's ball, and left at one a.m., 
 night fine. Called alongside Terror, and returned on 
 board at two a.m. 
 
 Friday, ^yd. — Fine day. Went on shore and ordered 
 a new gun-stock to replace the one I had found broken 
 at one of the inns on our journey, but how I knew not ; 
 it vexed me, being my old pet stock, which I had before 
 broken at Spitzbergen, in knocking down my first rein- 
 deer, and had had repaired on board. Having received 
 through Captain Ross an invitation from Sir John and 
 Lady Franklin to accompany them in their yacht on an 
 excursion to Port Arthur, I went to Captain Moriarty's, 
 the harbour-master, and after taking tea with his family, 
 at seven p.m. accompanied him on board the yacht from 
 his own house. We got the yacht under weigh, but the 
 breeze failing us, made no progress. 
 
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 Tesselated Pavement, Eagle-Hawk Neck, Tasmania. (Seepage 124.) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ;i I 
 
 Excursion to Port Arthur— Inspection of convicts — Dog sentinels — The 
 tesselated jxivement — The coal-mines — Hack at Hobart Town — 
 A funeral procession of boats — Complimentary ball— Laying the 
 foundation-stone of the new Government House — Farewell to 
 Tasmania. 
 
 Saturday, 2^^/i. — At 8.30 a.m. we breakfasted; and 
 at 9.10 a.m. I accompanied Captain Moriarty in a boat 
 to board the Janet Willis, coming up the river from 
 England, which she left on the 8th of July; but had 
 nothing for us in the bag of letters and newspapers we 
 examined on her deck. After lunch, the sea-breeze 
 taking us to Norfolk Bay, we all left the yacht and 
 crossed by the railway, a very narrow road cut through 
 the thick woods, along which we were pushed in small 
 carts by a number of convicts. I rode part of the way 
 and walked the remainder. At six p.m. we passed the 
 halfway house, and it was dusk when we embarked in 
 the boat on the opposite side, where the lights of Port 
 
YaclU Excursion to Port ArtJntr. 
 
 123 
 
 Arthur appeared ; landed at eight p.m. ; went to Captain 
 Booth's, the commandant, where we dined. The Governor 
 inspected the whole of the convict establishment here, 
 and we accompanied him and the commandant all round. 
 The prisoners were arranged in tiers along the sides of 
 the room, each narrow crib being separated by a low 
 board. A light is constantly kept burning, and an over- 
 seer on watch throughout the night. What lamentable 
 specimens of poor humanity, crime indelibly stamped in 
 the vile physiognomy of each ! Several of us visited 
 Lieutenant Kelly's (of the 51st) quarters, who is in charge 
 of a detachment of the regiment here. 
 
 Sunday^ i^tli. — In the afternoon several of us walked 
 round Point Puer, and I examined the argillaceous cliff 
 here, containing sever.''l kinds of fossil shells ; and m 
 returning near the signal-station, I had an opportunity 
 afforded me of seeing the beautiful, pure white hawk 
 of the island in his wild haunts flying overhead. Here 
 were several of the shrubs called the native plum, 
 with a variety of wild flowers. At seven p.m. I dined 
 at the commandant's with Sir John Franklin and 
 suite. 
 
 Monday, 26tli. — Started at 6.45 a.m. from the wharf, 
 where a guard of soldiers were drawn up to receive the 
 Governor. We embarked 'v.\ three boats, and at 7.30 
 a.m. landed, where the railway-cart took us to the half- 
 way house. I walked occasionally and saw a great 
 number of wild flowers along the sides of the road, and 
 a flock of black cockatoos. The woods were \\.iy 
 dense, some of the trees very lofty, having trunks as 
 erect as a ship's mast. At nine a.m wi' again embarked 
 in the boat, went alongside of the schooner-yacht, and 
 shoved off again in about ten minutes for Eagle- Hawk 
 Neck, a low, narrow, sandy isthmus, connecting las- 
 man's with Forester's Peninsula, having on one side the 
 sea and Pirate's Bay, and on the other an inlet from 
 
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 124 
 
 I 'oyag-cs of Discovery 
 
 Norfolk Bay. Up the latter inlet \vc pulled the boats ; 
 it is wooded on either side. 
 
 Reached Eagle-Hawk Neck at ten a.m., and landed at 
 a long wooden pier, amid the loud barking of eleven 
 dogs, nine of which were chained to stakes in the ground, 
 and two chained on a platform, erected over the water 
 on piles, forming a line of ever-watchful sentinels across 
 the low sandy hollow, for about 100 yards or so, the 
 breadth of the neck between two ridges. They were 
 the most ferocious-looking brutes I ever saw. Dashing 
 at us, as far as the length of their chains would permit 
 them, with deafening howls, and barking as we passed 
 them to the opposite beach — a hard, fine, white sand, 
 to examine the so-called — by the colonists — " Tesselated 
 pavement." This freak of nature forms indeed a most 
 remarkable specimen of her works. Turning to the left, 
 along the beach of Pirate's Bay, at 10.30 a.m., we reached 
 the argillaceous cliffs, abounding in fossil shells, and at 
 their base the debris, instead of forming a talus, had 
 been, by the action of the waves, where the sea breaks 
 over the fallen rocks, formed into a platform. This plain 
 surface of the argillaceous rock is divided by lines, ar- 
 ranged with the most geometrical precision, torming the 
 siliceous clay, of which it is composed, into symmetrical 
 slabs, varying in length and breadth, frequently having 
 their margins bordered in strong relief. The dimensions 
 of those I measured were from three to nine feet in 
 length, and from four to eight inches, or even six feet in 
 breadth. Others formed square.'- of eighteen inches. 
 These divisional pHnes had a general bearing of E. by 
 N., with a perfect;/ geometrical parallelism in relation 
 to each other. The curious structure here displayed 
 may probably be due to the agency of some electro- 
 magnetic forces, acting upon the atoms or molecules of 
 matter whilst passing into a solid condition in the process 
 of cooling; thus, giving a definite direction to the 
 
Tcssclatcd PavcDicnt^ Eaglc-Ilaivk Neck. 125 
 
 ordinary partings which argillaceous deposits so fre- 
 quently present, when contracting under sudden changes 
 of temperature, during their consolidation. At the first 
 glance its marvellous symmetrical appearance, so like a 
 work of art, is very striking. Spirifenje and other similar 
 fossil shells are most profusely embedded in this deposit, 
 forming quite a mosaic pavement. 
 
 At 2.45 p.m. we landed on the west side of the bay, to 
 visit the coal-mines. The first is open between basaltic 
 rocks, assuming the columnar form. The shaft is sunk 
 to the depth of fifty-two yards, down which I descended 
 in a basket. The galleries are very low and narrow, 
 swampy and muddy, and worked underground for about 
 300 feet. The seams of coal are from four to six feet 
 in thickness, and overlaid by a stratum of sandstone. 
 Sixty men are employed in this mine, and the average 
 daily quantity of coals raised from the pit amounts to 
 forty chaldrons. 
 
 We walked round to the second mine, lately opened 
 near the beach ; the coal here is so near the surface no 
 shaft has been sunk, but a tolerably wide tunnel has been 
 excavated in a straight line for forty-seven yards in the 
 sandstone and argillaceous rocks, beneath which lies 
 the seam of coal, of a better quality than in the first mine. 
 It has not yet been worked to its entire depth. 
 
 Tuesday, 27///. — Off the Iron Pot Lighthouse this 
 morning; reached Hobart Town at 9.30 a.m. As I left 
 the yacht, at ten 10.15 a.m., passed nine of our boats 
 in a line, forming a funeral procession, with the body of 
 our poor old captain of the hold, who had unhappily lost 
 his life by falling into a w^ater-tank in the hold, being 
 suffocated in the foul air. I received an invitation to 
 dine at Government House on Monday. The Mary 
 Hay sailed for England to-day, with our Natural History 
 specimens on board. 
 
 Thursday, i^th. — Mr. Gregson of Risdon, and Lieu- 
 
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126 
 
 yoya^es of Discovery. 
 
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 J II 
 
 tenant Breton, R.N., of Richmond, dined on board with 
 me ; and after landinj^ them at nine p.m., I went to the 
 ball given by the inhabitants in the new custom-house 
 rooms, to the captains and officers of the Antarctic Ex- 
 pedition. I entered the ball-room at ten p.m., soon after 
 which the Governor, Sir John, and Lady Franklin, and 
 suite arrived, and with them the captains. The ball- 
 room was lined with flags on the left side, two colours, 
 with the arms of Captains Ross and Crozier. 
 
 We breakfasted at nine a.m. at Lieutenant Breton's, 
 and saw his fine collection of fossils and other native 
 specimens of the island. 
 
 In the afternoon we sailed in the whale-boat for the 
 Erebus, getting on board at 5.30 p.m. Gregson and 
 Breton dined on board with me, and Dr. Clarke, the 
 Inspector-General of Army Hospitals, a party of thirteen 
 in all sitting down to table in our small gun-room 
 to-day. 
 
 Monday, November 2nd. — ^Landed with Gregson, who 
 slept on board in my cabin last night. We went to a Mr. 
 Crombie's, a friend of his in Hobart Town, from which I 
 accompanied Mr. Gregson and his family in their carriage 
 to the Paddock, where I had a boat in readiness to take 
 them ofT to see the ship. At 3.30 p.m. I took them on 
 shore again in the galley, and, after showing them the 
 Observatory, I returned on board to dress for dinner at 
 Government House, which took place at 6.30 p.m. My 
 friend Gregson was present, and also at the Natural 
 History Society's Meeting, when a paper on skulls was 
 read by Mr. Bedford, and the leader on Magnetism in 
 the last Quarterly was read by Sir John Franklin. I got 
 on board again at one o'clock in the morning. 
 
 Thursday, ^th. — Saw the first stone of the new 
 Government House laid by Sir John Franklin in the 
 Paddock. Both the captains were present, with the 
 military, and a large concourse of people. The two 
 
 ■i li L ' J. 
 
'. 
 
 Foundation-stone of the New College laid. 127 
 
 ships were dressed in flags, and salutes fired from 
 them ; after which there was a dance and supper at the 
 Pavilion. 
 
 Saturday, ']th. — The lYezv Norfolk steamer was taken 
 by the Governor to-day, for the purpose of conveying a 
 large party up the river to see the foundation-stone of 
 the new college laid. The two captains and the officers 
 of the expedition had tickets given them for a passage in 
 her. Sir John and Lady Franklin, with their daughter, 
 proceeding by land. The steamer started from the old 
 wharf at nine a.m., with her decks crowded, and having 
 a fair proportion of ladies. Sir John Franklin went 
 through the customary form of laying the stone, not far 
 from the Government Cottage, making an appropriate 
 speech on the occasion. After the ceremony was con- 
 cluded a large sheet of paper was laid upon the table, for 
 the signature of those disposed to annex their names, so 
 I added my own autograph to the rest. Returned to 
 Hobart Town at 7.30 p.m. 
 
 Sunday, 8t/t. — At 2.30 p.m. I started for Risdon, across 
 the Paddock. Reached the ferry at 3.30 p.m., and Greg- 
 son's at four p.m. The beautiful situation of this mansion, 
 on a rising knoll, commanding so fine a viewof the Derwent, 
 the grounds of New Town, on the opposite bank, with 
 the fine background of Mount Wellington, the smooth 
 water of the creek, like a lake, beneath the house, and 
 flanked by woods, together with the fineness of the 
 evening, induced us all to have our tea on the lawn. 
 
 Tuesday, \oth. — -The ship was yesterday unmoored 
 ready for sea, but thick weather and calms prevented 
 our sailing. Sir John Franklin came on board and dined 
 with us in the gun-room. We had rather a large party, 
 Captains Ross and Crozier, Mr. Gregson, and Captain 
 Foreman, being of the number. 
 
 Wednesday ^ i \th. — The state of the weather detaining 
 us at anchor, at 4.15 p.m. I landed and walked through 
 
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 128 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 i I. ! 
 
 (. ■ t 
 
 the Paddock to the ferry, which I reached at 5.25 p.m., 
 and Risdon at six p.m., to spend my last evening with 
 my excellent friend Gregson and his charming family, 
 under whose roof I had passed so many happy hours, 
 and looked upon as a home, in the brief intervals of 
 leisure my own multifarious duties in such an arduous 
 service as we are engaged in would afford me. I found 
 my friends at tea, after which we passed a delightful 
 evening in music and singing, and after supper I took 
 my departure at 11.30 p.m., with a present of some 
 home-made raspberry vinegar and ginger-beer, young 
 Gregson accompanying me down to the head of the 
 creek, where his boat was awaiting me to take me on 
 board. I got alongside the Erebus soon after midnight, 
 a beautiful moonlight night, and the wind changed in our 
 favour. 
 
 Thursday, \ith. — We at last got under weigh at 
 five a.m., and hove-to off the town for Sir John Franklin, 
 who came on board about seven a.m., and we stood 
 clown the river, accompanied by the Eliza yacht. At 
 1.30 p.m., when the pilot left us, the Governor took his 
 leave of us, and as he descended the ship's side into his 
 boat our rigging was manned, and three loud cheers 
 given him, which, on his getting on board his yacht, was 
 returned from her. To-day we commenced our sea-hours 
 of dining at three p.m. Weather fine, but cloudy till 
 evening set in, when rain fell. 
 
 We have now fairly bid adieu, for some months at 
 least, to the shores of this lovely island, and with deep 
 regret. Its fine climate, beautiful and varied scenery, 
 together with the boundless hospitality of its inhabitants, 
 had made our sojourn here a delightful break in our 
 voyage. 
 
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An almost impervious Ravine in Auckland Islands. {See Ajq,' 132.) 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 First voyage tovvanls tlie South Pole— Auckland Islands^ l'ji(lerl)y 
 Island— Excursion up an almost impervious lavinc — IJotanical 
 features — Ewing Island — Sandy Bay — Albatross eggs —Ornitho- 
 logy of the islands — Departure. 
 
 Friday, A^ovemher 13///, 1840. — We have now entered 
 upon the first interesting portion of our expedition, to 
 pass our summer, or what goes by the name of summer 
 in this hemisphere, amid huge packs of icebergs and a 
 glaciated land. Our future for the next few months is 
 so exceptionally novel, so full of interest, so promising in 
 the prospective of great discoveries in a region of our 
 globe fresh and new as it was at creation's first dawn, 
 and to the more sanguine and enthusiastic there is the 
 possibility at least of unfurling our flag at the ice-girt 
 Pole itself. 
 
 Siiiuhiy, 15^/'- — Night fine. Saw the aurora australis 
 shooting upwards to the zenith during the first watch. 
 
 Friday, 2oth.- — Saw the land, about seven a.m., beating 
 up along Enderby Island, one of the Auckland group 
 
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 Voyaj^es of Discovery 
 
 distant between 800 and 900 miles from Ilobart Town, 
 and at one; p.m. came to an anchor in a large harbour 
 called " Sarah's Bosom," having a deep creek running 
 up to the left. At three p.m. I landed opposite 'd the 
 ship in company with two of my shipmates. On first 
 landing I shot two small ash-backed gulls at one shot. 
 Saw only two small green-finches in the dense thickets 
 which clothed the hill-sides, through which I made my 
 way with great difficulty, rather by crawling than walking, 
 for some two miles. My two companions, soon tiring of 
 this sort of work, not having the same spur to exertion 
 which my own natural history pursuits afforded me, 
 returned to the beach. 
 
 The trees scarcely exceeded twenty feet in height, and 
 were so interlaced and matted together at the summits as 
 almost to exclude the light as well as the sun's rays. 
 Beneath was a rich, dark, deep, elastic, vegetable mould, 
 clothed with a rank and dense underwood, creeping 
 plants, grasses, mosses, and lichens. Some of the larger 
 trees were growing in a nearly horizontal position, the 
 trunks covered in the greatest profusion with lichens and 
 mosses, beautifully embossed by them. I descended a 
 ridge on emerging from this tangled forest inland, return- 
 ing along a valley on the right clothed with thickets of 
 underwood shrubs and long grass ; reached the beach 
 at 4.30 p.m., and as it now began to rain, I returned on 
 board with my two shipmates, whom I found awaiting my 
 return on the beach. 
 
 Monday^ 23^7/. — Landed at 7.45 a.m. to examine the 
 extent of the large creek on the left side of the harbour, 
 called Laurie Harbour. I first made my way through 
 the densely tangled thickets over the point, reaching the 
 creek at nintj a.m. The trees here became much taller, 
 and the trunks of greater size, perfectly embossed with 
 the richest covering of cryptogamic plants, both mosses 
 and lichens abounding in the greati^st profusion I ever 
 
Ascent of Dan Bluff. 
 
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 s,i\v. Ferns too grow in the utmost luxuriance. Here 
 and there large trunks of trees eoniph.'tely encased in 
 cryptoganiic plants lay prostrate over the narrow, muddy 
 channels of water which empty themselves into the bay, 
 forming natural bridges. On ascending the hill-side from 
 tin; inlet, the trees became replaced by bushes, in some 
 places forming almost impenetrable thickets, denser 
 than the most tangled white-thorn hedge. From the 
 spot I had reached I saw our boat up the inlet, and 
 at once made my way through the belt of wood to its 
 shore. 
 
 Throughout this excursion I met with scarcely any 
 signs of animal life ; it was almost the silence of an 
 Arctic solitude ; all so still save the rather pleasing, 
 plaintive, low note of a small olive-green fmch and 
 blackish-looking bird, about the size of a starling, sitting 
 on a bush at tio great a distance to discover its species, 
 but probably belonging to the promerop's family. On 
 the beach I shot a black-backed gull just as I was about 
 to enter the boat. A brown-coloured duck and a mer- 
 ganser frequent the harbour. After pulling down the 
 creek to the bay, we made sail on board, reaching the 
 ship at noon. 
 
 TJiursday, 26th. — Blowing fresh, with squalls of sleet 
 and snow at intervals. At nine a.m. I left the ship in the 
 cutter, landing first at Pig Island, where we had landed 
 our porkers. The rock is basalt, highly magnetic, and 
 clothed with underwood. From this I crossed over to 
 Point Deas Bluff, and landed there at 10.10 a.m. 
 Ascended to the summit from the south-west side. It is 
 formed of prismatic columns of basalt, highly magnetic, 
 and only accessible through the help afforded by the long 
 tufts of coarse grass growing out of the fissures in the 
 rock, and these I found rather treacherous to trust to. 
 A clump of trees and bushes, intermingled with ferns and 
 other herbaceous plants, crowned the summit. Oik; very 
 
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 132 
 
 / 'oj'irois of Discovery. 
 
 pretty purple blossom, a jTCentian, peeped out from the 
 rocky fissure. 
 
 I had .1 fine view of an inlet in the coast on the oppo- 
 site side of the island, flanked by a black headland. I 
 returned by an easier descent on the other side of the 
 head of the bay. Shot a shag, a black-backed gull, and 
 a fine falcon on the beach. I met with a few limpets 
 and mussels, and returned on board at three p.m. 
 
 Fridaw 2'itli. — Our two cutters having left the ship at 
 eight a.m., to haul the seine for fish up the inlet, I availed 
 myself of the opportunity it afforded me to land at the 
 upper end of it, without having to make my way through 
 the dense thickets over the point. My intention was to 
 follow the narrow stream f)r river which apparently runs 
 from the top of the creek along the centre of the ravine 
 to the opposite coast, for which purpose I left the boat at 
 9.30 a.m., and shot one of the small olive-green birds 
 on landing. 
 
 I now followed the course of the running stream, 
 which at its broadest part is only fifteen feet across. 
 For the first half-mile it runs through a thicket of 
 trees, ferns, grass, and rank vegetation. My course 
 after this kept diverging from the banks of the rivulet 
 till I came to some very thickly tangled bushes, indeed 
 as impervious as a thicket of thorns to get through, 
 and so matted and interlaced at the top that I some- 
 times had to roll myself bodily over their flat summits. 
 I crossed numerous small feeders trickling down from 
 the hill-sides to enter this small river, winding its 
 devious way through the bottom of the valley, sometimes 
 heard gushing along in narrow channels or gullies, quite 
 screened from sight by the overhanging, thickly tangled 
 bushes, ferns, grasses, and mosses, and only warned 
 from slipping into the stream beneath by the mur- 
 muring sound of the running water. This sound, indeed, 
 was often my only guide in finding its tortuous curves. 
 
 ^^J:^ 
 
/Ill iiiipauh-tihlc Ravine. 
 
 133 
 
 concealed as it was beneath the superabundant vegeta- 
 tion, but heard at some distance. When I had made 
 my way with no small dilTieulty as far up the valley as 
 between two and three miles, I crossed an open space of 
 boij, a black peat, free from bushes, for a short distance, 
 and having the blackened aspect of coarse grass burnt to 
 the roots. This again was succeeded by long grass and 
 thickets of bushes. When I had proceeded for about 
 three miles, I saw before me spread out for some distant ' 
 onwards a lovely orange-coloured patch produced by a 
 large bed of the wild tritcjina {Clirvsohactron Nossii) in 
 full bloom, the rich golden-yellow flower spikes contrast- 
 ing with the deep leck-green of their long liliaceous 
 leaves and the framework of ferns, grasses, and short 
 thorny scrub in which they were set, conibined to produce 
 a charming effect, much heightened, too, by the vicinity 
 of an umbelliferous plant having flowers of a purplish 
 hue. The bottom was of so swampy a nature that I 
 sometimes sank knee-deep in the morass, rendering all 
 progression most laborious and toilsome. 
 
 After crossing a low wooded ridge I came upon a bend 
 of the river on my right, foaming and murmuring along 
 a deep channel, some six feet across, but entirely con- 
 cealed from view by the overhanging densely tangled 
 thickets. At eleven a.m. I plunged into an impenetrable 
 bush, which appeared to extend for at least a mile ahead, 
 but seemed bounded by a hill ; crossing the valley, this 
 was partly enveloped in mist. It being now noonday, 
 with the uncertainty of being able to reach the opposite 
 side of the island by this course, and the utter im- 
 possibility, even if I did, of reaching the ship before 
 nightfall ; this prospect, together with the heavy rain 
 which had been incessantly falling since I started, 
 accompanied as it was by a cold, chilling state of the 
 atmosphere, which all along had been overcast, thick, 
 and gloomy, determined me on bearing up, and trying 
 
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 some more elii;il)le route on some other clay to carry out 
 my plan. 
 
 I was now literally drenched to the skin, with the 
 rain and the water constantly fallinij on me from the 
 trees and bushes, as I forced my way through them ; my 
 heavy water- boots, too, were sodden, and filled with water 
 from frequently sinking a' ove their tops in wading through 
 the swampy bog. In returning I followed the course of 
 the river as nearly as I could, reaching the top of the 
 creek of Laurie Harbour at 2.30 p.m., and after wading 
 waist-deep across the mouth of the river, entered one of 
 our boats, and got on board at 3.45 p.m. 
 
 Sunday, 2<^th. — Accompanied Abernethy, our worthy 
 gunner, on shore for a ramble, when we fell in with two 
 large hogs in the thickest bushes, and I saw a falcon, 
 ringed plover, two larks, some other small birds, and a 
 number of gulls on the point. The pigs, originally left on 
 the island by Captain Bristow, are now very numerous, 
 although exceedingly difficult to find from the dense cover 
 of vegetation. They live chiefly upon the roots of the 
 Pleuropliyllum crinifermn and the Arabia polaris, a very 
 remarkable plant bearing large umbels of waxy flowers, 
 both plants abounding all over the island. We landed on 
 the island at the point beyond Deas Head, and returned 
 on board at 4.30 p.m. 
 
 • Monday^ 30///. — Left the ship at seven a.m. to examine / 
 the breeding-places of the albatross {Diomcdia cxidJiis), J 
 landing at Ocean Point. We hauled the boat up a narrow 
 creek in the basaltic rocks, which have the columnar form. 
 I found a gull's cfrg^, and shot a green bird and a shag at 
 the point. At nine a.m. sailed for Ewing Lsland. The 
 rocks were covered with shags. I climbed over these 
 precipices, through the thick bush-grass and rank vegeta- 
 tion, to alow ledge of rocks, on which the sea breaks, and 
 shot an albatross Hying overhead, which fell winged among 
 the bushes on the hill above ; and on going up the ridge 
 
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 lo pick il up, I found (Iirct.- of the yoiiii^ of tlie gnat 
 pctri'l, and shot a niaUirt" one and sonu,' shags. At 
 (liven a.m. I started for Knderby Island, and there canglu 
 two old albatrosses, sitting together among the long grass 
 llanki'd by bushes; they were doubtless about selecting 
 a nesting-place. These birds are now in my own collec- 
 tion. 
 
 1 afterwards landed at Sandy Hay, a pretty whit(.; 
 sandy beach of crescentic form for a quarter of a mile, 
 bounded by trappean rocks and crowned with wood. 
 Above the centre of the beach is a hollow, fdled with long 
 grass, growing in a rich, boggy soil in such rank luxurianc:(i 
 as to be up to the hips, and Hanked by a sand-hill clad to 
 the summit by the same kind of grass, having the whole 
 skirted by a thicket of trees and bushes. 1 found snipe 
 in tile long gi'ass, whi^di v.'ere very diHicult to (lush, and 
 then rising close under the feet, darting down agani 
 immediately only a yard or so away, rendering it a 
 somewhat difficult matter to secure specimens without 
 having them shattiTcd to pieces. 1 shot a braci-, how- 
 ever, and saw a paroquet or two. Started at 3.30 \).m. 
 and landed at the " IMuff " on the left, upon , low ledge, 
 covered with chitons, mussc'ls, and limpets. Shot a shag. 
 .All around is an inaccessible wall of basalt. 
 
 7)tcs(/try, Decciiihcr \st. — Started in a boat under sail 
 for Sandy Bay. Saw a penguin, two paroquets, and a 
 snipe there. Shot three small larks and black cap 
 (sv/vid), and a brown gull. Found a ni'W plant. 
 
 'I'lntrsdiiy, 3^^/, 7.20 (i.))i. — I landed at thc!obser\atory, 
 and dug out a blue petrel and egg from a hole in llu' 
 hank, under some short bushes. I returned on b(/artl in 
 the boat with the seine ; the two cutters alternards started 
 ai 10. 15 a.m. for Sandy Hav to haul the seine, and I took 
 a passage; in the first cutter with Abernethy, and on 
 landing I shaped a W.N. \V. course through the thickets, 
 following a watercourse over the hill till I reached the 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 grassy summit above the brushwood. Here I saw a 
 pair of albatrosses silling near a nest without an egg, 
 and crossed to the opposite side of the island, coasting 
 it round to the right along the long grass, with hei ; 
 and there a few flowers. In an hour and a hall I had 
 picked up a dozen albatross eggs ; only in one solitary 
 instance did I find two eggs in the same nest, and these 
 two eggs were of an exceptional shape, one being more 
 rounded and the other much more elongated than in the 
 normal form, and were evidently twins, and laid by the 
 same bird — no unusual occurrence amongst mammalia 
 having one offspring as the ordinary number. The 
 great naturalist, Cuvier, had been under the erroneous 
 impression that the albatross laid more than one ttgg ; the 
 opportunity these islands ha\e afforded me of examining 
 so many nests during the season of incubation enables 
 me definitively to assert that, like the petrels, to which 
 they have a strong affinity through the form of the beak, 
 one egg is the normal number. The fine white head and 
 neck of the bird, appearing above the grass as she sits on 
 her nest, would lead to its discovery at a great distance 
 even did she not betray the having an egg beneath her 
 by so pertinaciously refusing to quit it till pushed olT, 
 bravely defending herself and her treasure with her beak, 
 snapping the mandibles together with a sharp, ringing 
 sound, making no attempt at flight unless driven off by 
 force, when she waddles off in the most awkward and 
 grotesque manner, floundering with outspread wings 
 amongst the long grass, often rolling over and over if 
 any ruggedness of the ground obstruct her progress. I 
 returned to the beach through a tangled thicket of 
 trees, bushes, and long grass down the rocks, at no small 
 risk to my freight of eggs, each averaging above a pound 
 in weight, carrying such a fragile cargo for about a quarter 
 of a mile, till I came upon the hollow of long grass, the 
 haunt of the snipe, and where I shot three, and a paroquet 
 
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Depart lire from, the .luchlaiid IsliDids. 
 
 137 
 
 flying overhead, v/hich, falling in the long grass, I had 
 some dilficulty in finding. I reached the boat at 3. 1 5 p.m., 
 where I had to wait till 7.45 p.m. before we got all our party 
 together, blowing and raining all the time, during which I 
 shot a small gull and two green birds on the beach, and 
 then had to pull against a strong head-wind, coming 
 in sudden gusts, with thick weather and a short head-sea 
 breaking over the boat, the moon just making her appear- 
 ance over the land. We got on board at 9.45 p.m., having 
 made a good day's work of eggs. 
 
 Monday^ ']tli, 5.30 a.vi. — I landed in the whale-boat, 
 and crossed the island from the observatory to the 
 opposite bay, through the usual tangled thickets and 
 long grass ; reached the bay, which is d. dt;d in two by 
 a ledge of rocks. At 6.15 I passed a n. mber of pig- 
 tracks, and found abundant traces of them everywhere in 
 the woods, in the turned-up soi', and fresh leaves of 
 plants just torn off and strewed about. The impressions 
 of their feet in the mud of a watercourse above the way, 
 fnimed a regular track made by numbers of these animals. 
 Yet I did not hear or see a single one. The steep rock 
 on the right side of the bay was hollowed out into a 
 cave, and full of gulls. I crossed the stream and ascended 
 the wooded hill on the opposite side, returning to the 
 cliffs along the coast, which, being covered only with burnt 
 grass, presented a black and charred aspect. I now 
 shaped my course round the extreme point of the island, 
 by the Arched Rock, through a rank ground vegetation' 
 of ferns and umbellifera to Deas Head. There I shot a 
 specimen of the Tui, or parson-bird; and a few hundred 
 yards inland of this and the bay I passed a small lake 
 or pond, some twenty-live yards in length, in the centre 
 of an almost impenetrable thicket, a narrow, deep water- 
 course running from it into the bay. I g(jt on board 
 through wind and rain at between five and six p.m. 
 
 Saturday, 12///.— At 5.40 a.m. we took our departure 
 
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 I 'oyagcs of Discovery, 
 
 from the Auckland Islands. I had been employed for 
 the last few days in skinning albatrosses and other birds 
 for the Government collection. In going out of the har- 
 bour the fine perpendicular columns of basalt appeared 
 very conspicuous and to great advantage on either side 
 of Sandy Bay. 
 
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139 
 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Canii)bull Island— Jioth sliips aground — Albatross and Icslris shooting — 
 An albatross wooing -A dull (!hristnias l)ay--C)ur fust iceberg — 
 Ocean birds —I'agging specimens while under full sail — Sunrise at 
 midnight — In the ice-pack — Our Twelfth-cake — Man overboard. 
 
 Sunday, December 13///. — At eight a.m. Campbell Island 
 in sight. Had to beat up in thirty-six tacks to the top of the 
 harbour, which is very deep, and there being barely room 
 for going about in some places. We grounded before 
 we reached the top in two or three places ; thus losing 
 two hours before we got afloat again, by warping off the 
 shore. We anchored at five p.m. ; albatrosses and gulls 
 numerous. 
 
 The Terror ran aground off the point, and did not get 
 afloat again till the middle watch this morning, Monday. 
 
 14///. — I landed in the second cutter on the right 
 point of the creek, and walked to the head of it along 
 the beach, which was thickly strewed over with quartz 
 pebbles. Here a narrow stream, which may be leaped 
 across, pours its waters into the creek. The valley 
 through which this stream runs in its descent is clothed 
 with withered-looking, blackened bushes. Ascending a 
 hill on the left, through a thick fog, at 10.45 'I-'H-, 1 
 reached the base of a steep rock, and under the lee of 
 this the conspicuous while head and neck of the alba- 
 tross appeared through the fog only a short distance off, 
 and I found the first egg on this island here. Tiie nest 
 is a very simple affair, formed of withered grass and leaves 
 
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 Voyages 0/ Discovery. 
 
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 matted together, and intermingled with a mound of soil 
 eighteen inehes in height, two feet and a quarter in dia- 
 meter at the top, and six feet in circumference at the 
 base. The albatross is frequently found sleeping on its 
 egg, with its head under the right wing. After taking 
 the egg- from the nest, I scattered some Kerguelen Land 
 cabbage-seed in it, as the soil appeared to me favourable 
 for its germination. I found six eggs hereabouts, and 
 descended to the other side of the hill, to the base of a 
 ridge of rocks. The fog just now beginning to lift, the 
 harbour appeared below me, and the inland ridge of hills 
 which appear to separate it from the opposite coast, for 
 which I directed my steps at one p.m., and saw the sea 
 with only a deep valley between ; I found five more 
 albatross eggs here. A brown skua-gull, or lestris, 
 alighted close to my feet, and appeared to be very de- 
 sirous of sharing the spoil with me. This bird, I have 
 no doubt, both from its audacity and manner, is the 
 albatross's worst enemy, never losing an opportunity of 
 robbing the nest when the albatross leaves it, for however 
 brief an interval. I have myself noticed it always on the 
 alert prowling around. 
 
 Here I passed a small lake or pool of water, some 
 ihirty feet in length, with a rivulet running under the 
 thickly interwoven short -'Tub of ferns and long grass to 
 the river, abounding in ihose beautiful orange-yellow 
 spikes of the tritoma which I met with at the Auckland 
 Islands, together with the large purple umbels. Indeed, 
 the whole flora bears a striking affinity, and many of the 
 species are the same. Descending the ridge through 
 the grass-covered valley, I reached the shore at 2.45 p.m., 
 a steep, perpendicular cliff overhanging the sea. 
 
 The whole outline of coast presented a bold, wild, 
 rugged chain of precipices, with points jutting into the 
 sea ; six rocks rising above the surface of the water 
 beneath, of which the two nearest would appear to have 
 
! >'' 
 
 All Albatross IVooinc. 
 
 141 
 
 fallen, from corresponding excavations in the cliffs on 
 which I stood. To the left a small bay runs in, flanked 
 by a remarkable barn-shaped hill, having a gable-like 
 end ; another hill on the right, having circular terraces 
 to the summit, much resembled the trappean terraces of 
 Kerguelen's Land. At three p.m. I returned over a 
 saddle between two hills, where I found four more alba- 
 tross eggs, and saw four of the birds grouped together ; 
 and one flying overhead, being out of the reach of shot, 
 I brought down with a ball one of the barrels of my gun 
 was loaded with, by breaking its wing, needing it for the 
 collection. At 4.30 p.m. I reached the boat, and here 
 shot three of the albatross's foe, the lestris, and got on 
 board at six p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, \6th. — Landed at the foot of the hill on 
 the starboard side of the bay, opposite to the ship. I 
 reached the summit of the hill in about half an hour, a 
 grassy slope studded over with a few stunted bushes. 
 Passing along a perpendicular wall of rock, I reached 
 the peak which crowns the summit of the range ; this is 
 a bare, inaccessible pinnacle of basalt overhanging the 
 deep valley on the opposite side, a bay running in from 
 the sea on the right. I continued along this ridge, or 
 backbone of the range, in the direction of the sea. 
 The albatrosses were breeding in great numbers in the 
 long grass covering the land. Their beautiful white 
 necks seen above the grass as they sit on their nests, 
 studding the hills in all directions. Now and then the 
 male bird may be seen standing by the nest alongside of 
 its mate, but more frequently the female is alone, and 
 not unfrequently sleeping. In all the nests that I 
 examined here, and they were not a f<'W, each contained 
 but one egg. 
 
 On the summit of the ridge I had an opportunity 
 afforded me of witnessing an albatross wooing. A group 
 of thirteen of these birds had assembled together, evi- 
 
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 i'oyj^cs of Discovery. 
 
 dently for the purpose of selecting their future partners, 
 and so intently were they en<;aged in this ceremony, that 
 my own approach was quite unheixled by them ; I 
 silently stood for some time within a few paces watchini^ 
 them. It was quite a pantomime of billing and twisting 
 of necks into various curvatures, without a note or sound 
 escaping them. Several others were flying overhead as 
 they arrived from the sea, rapidly cleaving the air with 
 their huge pinions, anxious to join the coterie below 
 them. It was a los-ely day, a brilliant sun in the clearest 
 blue azure sky, with the wide expanse of the surrounding 
 ocean of the deepest blue. I passed by two or three 
 small lakes, or rather lakelets, about, perhaps, 100 yards 
 across, and had a fine view of the harbour with the 
 ships beneath me, from a cliff near this. Descending 
 from the ridge for about a mile, through long grass, 
 bushes, and short scrub, the ground in places carpeted, 
 with an elegant small fern, which several albatrosses 
 had here selected as a cover for their nests, often seen 
 silting in groups of two or three, and within a few yards 
 of each other. 
 
 On the ridge several lestrises fiercely attacked me, 
 circling round my head, and darting with open beak at 
 my face, so close as nearly to strike me with their out- 
 spread wings. This very clamorous proceeding left me 
 in no doubt whatever as to my close proximity to their 
 nests. Indeed, after a very short search, I found a young 
 one, covered with down of a yellow colour, and squatted 
 amongst the long grass; and not far from it, in a slight 
 depression of the ground, a solitary egg, a valuable find, 
 as I believe it to be a new species ; and to have the whole 
 complete needed the addition of the parent birds, which 
 the cries of the young one, on being captured, rendered 
 desperate. Indeed, to get rid of their annoyance, in 
 self-defence, I may say, I was induced to shoot, not only 
 the old pair, as I supposed, but a third bird, that became 
 
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 too pertinacious. I now returned alonij a deep grass-jjjrown 
 hollow to the bay, near to the spot where I asei-iided the 
 first hill. Here I met with some of the ship's company, 
 who had like myself been egij-hunting, but had not been 
 equally fortunate in getting their eggs safely through the 
 dense thickets, having broken most of them, as the con- 
 dition of their outer- garments but too plainly betrayed, 
 and from the effects of which they were endeavouring to 
 extricate themselves when I fell in with them. 
 
 Thursday^ \ltli. — At 9.15 a.m. sailed with a fine fair 
 wind to the southward, accompanied by albatrosses, blue 
 petrel, black-backed gulls, and a solitary lestris. 
 
 Friday, 2^tli. — A disagreeable, overcast, rainy Christ- 
 mas Day, the thermometer 57° l""ahr,, latitude at noon 62°, 
 longitude 1 70° 20'. Captain Ross and the midshipmen 
 dined with us in the gun-room at three p.m., ship lying- 
 to. No divisions or divine service. I have been engaged 
 ever since we left the land in skinning birds, drying 
 plants, and arranging and stowing away natural history 
 collections. 
 
 Saturday, 26th. — Fine day, ship laying-to, and drifting 
 to the eastward. On the following day, Sunday, we had 
 neither divisions nor divine service, lying-to in a gale of 
 wind, with snow at intervals. Just as we were sitting 
 down to dinner, our table was swamped by two seas 
 coming in quick succession down the gun-room skylight, 
 deluging the table-cloth and everything on it, and 1 
 happened to be the unlucky president on the occasion. 
 
 Monday, 28///. — Fine day, with a bracing fresh breeze. 
 Going six knots through smooth water. At 7.15 p.m. 
 land was reported ahead, which, however, proved to he a 
 large iceberg on the lee-bow, the first we have as yet 
 f'llen in with. It was five or six leagues off when we 
 steered for it, and at 9.40 p.m. we passed within a 
 quarter of a mile, and to leeward of it. It was more 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 faintly tinted with blue, which became of a deeper shade 
 when the sea washed its base. It might be compared 
 to a large frigate just launched, without her masts and 
 spars, calmly and majestically floating with bow to 
 leeward. A large petrel was flying near it. Two more 
 bergs soon made their appearance, one of them resem- 
 bling the roof of a house covered with snow. Terror 
 about a quarter of a mile astern. At midnight, when I 
 left the deck, I counted six more, three to windward 
 and two to leeward, and one ahead, with a whale blowing. 
 Thermometer 31°, latitude 63° 22', longitude 174°, a 
 fresh breeze, and smooth water. Although the darkest 
 portion of the twenty-four hours, the thermometer could 
 be readily read off by daylight. 
 
 Tuesday, 29///. — Fine morning. I counted sixteen 
 pieces of ice around the horizon. Becalmed during 
 the middle of the day. Afterwards passed a lir.c^ of 
 bergs to windward, six of them of large size. Since 
 we entered amongst the ice the blue petrel seem to have 
 deserted us. The sooty and small black-backed albatross, 
 with several whales about us, the latter blowing and 
 sending up jets of vapour and spray, and then descending 
 with the tail uppermost; a berg to windward, resembling 
 a cottage in shape, having a chimney at its gable, and 
 another might be likened to a chariot and pair of horses, 
 quite white. The thermometer has now fallen below 
 the freezing-point, being 29*^ to-day, the air keen and 
 piercing, latitude 64° 7'. 
 
 Wednesday, 2,0th. — Being a fine day with light winds 
 and calms, we sounded in latitude 64° 34', longitude 
 i,"3°, in 1560 fathoms, having 5000 fathoms on the reel, 
 formed of 300 fathoms of strands of whale line, 700 of 
 9 yarn, and 360 of 6 yarn, spun yarn in the portion 
 run out. Observed a petrel we have not hitherto met 
 wit , of a lighter colour, and somewhat larger than the 
 Cape petrel. 
 
 - 4>V 
 
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Shoot the first White Petrel. 
 
 145 
 
 Tliursday, 31^/. — Fine day, with a fresh breeze. 
 Going four and five knots through the water to the 
 southward. South-easterly winds, thermometer 30°, lati- 
 tude 66° o' 25", longitude 171° 53'. Passed an iceberg 
 about* three miles to windward, resembling in form a 
 high-prowed galley, with several others of large size. 
 The south-west horizon to leeward presented a long 
 yellowish-white streak of light, like an ice-blink, sur- 
 mounted by a dark bank of clouds. The same two kinds 
 of albatrosses we have seen for the last few days still 
 accompanying us, and also the light ash-backed petrel, 
 with a solitary stormy petrel flying in the wake. The 
 surface of the sea was studded over with small bits of ice. 
 This ^morning, tor the first time, I saw the beautiful 
 and elegant white petre! {Procellarin nivea), its black 
 beak and feet forming a striking contrast to its pure, 
 unsullied, snow-white plumage, rivalling in its whiteness 
 the snow-clad berg itself; several were hovering round 
 the ship, rising higher as they swept to windward, in 
 their rapid and graceful evolutions. After skimming 
 along the surface of the sea for a time they will fre- 
 quently fly round the ship in pairs. 
 
 Being anxious to secure an early specimen of this rare 
 and beautiful bird for the collection, I seated myself in the 
 galley, on the port-side of the quarter-deck, with my old 
 double-barrel gun in my hand, and during the forenoon 
 watched for an opportunity when the bird was hovering 
 over the mast-head, well to windward, so that when shot 
 dead it might fall on board. After a little practice,' by 
 taking into calculation the force of the wind and velocity 
 in the flight of the bird, I became very successful in 
 thus bagging my specimens ; the eye and hand soon 
 acting in concert, in estimating the angle at which the 
 bird should be fired at, to secure its falling on board. At 
 the fourth shot I had the satisfaction of examining this 
 lovely bird in my hand, it having fallen dead on the taff- 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 rail to leeward, striking against the mizzen-trysail in its 
 descent. This was now my only chance of obtaining 
 specimens for the ornithological collection, as the 
 ship's course could not be delayed for lowering a boat 
 to pick them up. Saw a large berg ahead, and a sinaller 
 one on the lee-bow, resembling the hull of a ten-gun 
 brig. I saw the old year out and the new one in, under 
 somewhat novel circumstances, the sun rising exactly 
 at midnight, in the S.E. by E. quarter, gliding slowly 
 along the horizon so that the lower limb was scarcely clear 
 of it when I left the deck at 1.40 p.m., to turn in. A 
 streak of red diffused itself along the horizon, surmounted 
 by a bank of clouds, very beautifully striated with the 
 same colour. 
 
 Friday^ January \st, 1841. — We commenced the 
 new year by crossing the Antarctic circle, but light winds 
 and a quantity of loose stream-ice prevented us from 
 making much progress within ils confines ; the ther- 
 mometer at 31°, with a fall of snow, and a westerly wind. 
 Several icebergs in sight, and whales spouting; the 
 white and the ash-backed petrel flying about us with a 
 solitary stormy- petrel. The crow's-nest was got up to 
 the forc-topmast-head to-day, and I went up into the 
 fore-top to have a look at the ice. At four p.m. the officers 
 from the gun-room and the midshipmen's berth dined with 
 Captain Ross in his cabin ; the fare, fresh roast beef ; 
 and bullock's heart. During the first watch I went up to 
 the crow's-nest. A box-cloth jacket and trousers, a pair 
 of water-boots, two pairs of hose, two comforters, a red 
 frock, and a Welsh wig were this morning served out to 
 the officers and ship's company. 
 
 Tuesday, ^th. — At 9.15 a.m. we entered the pack with 
 a fine fresh breeze in our favour, ha\ing yesterday passed 
 several icebergs, one resembling a village church, and 
 another like a cottage, with a third having all the appear- 
 ance of an old hulk, with a lighter alongside. To-day 
 
Passino through the Pack. 
 
 •47 
 
 we are going at the rate of four and five knots through 
 the pack, with fine, clear sunshine. Passed two more 
 bergs, the one nearest to us was sixty to seventy feet in 
 height. The pieces of ice through which we passed 
 were loosely packed, seldom exceeding thirty or forty 
 feet in diameter, with a smooth, flat surface, having here 
 and there small irregular prominences or hummocks, the 
 whole of a snowy whiteness ; the sea-edge of the ice not 
 more than six to eight inches deep. Now and then 
 we had to haul out of the way of a heavier and higher 
 hummocky patch ; at times we passed through a mile or 
 two of open water. It required strict attention to the 
 helm in working through the narrow lanes and openings, 
 to avoid coming in collision with the larger masses, 
 some of which had cracks in them, tinted with the finest 
 azure blue. Looking towards the horizon, the pack in 
 the distance presented a uniform white surface from the 
 dark lanes of water between being concealed. The 
 birds about us were chiefly the white petrel, that har- 
 binger of ice, never met with beyond the vicinity of the 
 pack, a gigantic and a stormy petrel, and a pair of 
 penguins ; the latter, sitting on a piece of ice on the 
 port-bow, plunged into the sea as the ship passed. In 
 the afternoon I went up to the fore-topsail yard and 
 saw open water in the horizon, with a dark water sky, so 
 far favourable for us. 
 
 Wednesday^ 6th. — Being Twelfth-night, all the officers 
 took tea in the cabin with Captain Ross, and partook of 
 a Twelfth-cake, which had been given him in a tin case, 
 and was to have been opened on the 6th of January, 
 1840, but had been reserved for entering the ice. It was 
 accompanied by the customary painted figures on paper 
 and sugar, with enigmas to solve, which afforded us all 
 some amusement and laughter ; to aid which we had a 
 glass of cherry brandy each. Captain Crozier was a 
 guest; and Captain Ross afterwards, with some of the 
 
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 ^ 
 
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 '!« 
 
 11 
 
 \ - 
 
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 I .'M 
 
 i 
 
 148 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 officers, returned with him on board the Terror, to spend 
 the remainder of the evening. At nine p.m., as the boat 
 was being hauled up alongside, to take them, one of 
 the Terror s crew fell overboard from the gangway ; the 
 life-buoy was immediately let go, and the port-quarter 
 boat lowered, into which, being on deck at the time, I 
 jumped as she was in the act of being lowered in the 
 falls, and afterwards from her into the Terro/s boat, 
 which had just picked up the poor fellow only a short 
 distance astern of the siiip. After changing his wet 
 clothes, and getting him between warm blankets, and 
 into a hammock, he soon recovered from the effects of 
 his more than usually cold bath. We fortunately were 
 hove-to at the time, in an opening of water amongst 
 the ice. During the first watch I went up into the crow's- 
 nest, to have a look at the leads of open water, and dis- 
 covered the appearance of one to the southward. Aber- 
 nethy, our able and experienced ice-master and gunner, 
 was on the look-out in the nest at the time I went up. 
 The sun is now constantly above the horizon ; thermo- 
 meter 30"", and wind westerly. 
 
 Thursday, 7///.— Hove-to, and occasionally filling and 
 tacking amongst the loose ice. Saw a seal swimming 
 on the port-bow, the first I have yet seen here. This 
 afternoon I shot the first penguin, on a piece of ice on 
 the port-quarter, and Captain Ross permitted a boat to 
 be lowered to pick it up. Several others, generally in 
 pairs, I saw to-day. At seven p.m. the captain g^'-e 
 me the second cutter with six hands, to pull along the 
 edge of the ice, whilst the ship was tacking off and 
 on ; when 1 shot four more, two at one shot, and 
 also a while petrel. I had thus an opportunity afforded 
 me of landing on a piece of Antarctic ice for the first 
 time, to pick up a penguin. An opening in the ice to 
 the southward appearing in our favour, the recall pen- 
 nant was hoisted, and I returned on board at eight 
 
 I 
 
 -^ *k^ 
 
the 
 
 and 
 
 and 
 
 rded 
 
 first 
 
 :e to 
 
 pen- 
 
 ;ight 
 
 /// open Water aj^ain. 
 
 149 
 
 p.m. This evening I saw a gigantic petrel, and two 
 stormy petrels of a larger size than the common kind ; 
 they flew very high, hovering like swallows or martins 
 over the mast-head. 
 
 Saturday, gtli. — On going on deck after breakfast this 
 morning I found the ship laying her course to the south- 
 ward, in a clear, open sea with a strong breeze, going 
 four knots. We have now run about 134 miles through 
 the pack. " Billy," our young goat, the sailor's pet, 
 exhibited a very ludicrous performance on the quarter- 
 deck last night, staggering about and committing the 
 greatest absurdities, whilst under the influence of some 
 port wine which had been given him in the gun-room, and 
 he has consequently been all day stowed away in his cask 
 on the starboard-si('e of the quarter-deck, paying the 
 usual penance for hi^ debauchery. 
 
 Blowing a fresh gale, with the ship rolling heavily and 
 thick weather. I heard the hoarse, harsh " Qua" of the 
 penguin above the howling of the gale, as they passed 
 alongside during the night. Many of the dark petrel, 
 with the white wing-coverts, flying about us. Very un- 
 expectedly during the first watch I found our poor young 
 goat " Billy " dying. 
 
 Sunday, lot/i. — At eight a.m. we attained the seventieth 
 degree of latitude. Gale abated; sea gone down, and 
 quite free from ice, not a particle anywhere to be seen. I 
 saw three or four penguins in a group, several white and 
 other petrel, a large grey one, and a solitary stormy petrel. 
 We are now in the longitude of 1 74° 43.' 
 
 Yesterday there was a continuous fall of very small, 
 fine snow for twenty-hours. This large space of open 
 water occurring in so high a latitude looks very promising 
 for us — may it continue to the Pole, or a continent 
 discovered ! 
 
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I50 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 .1 
 
 u 
 
 '•n.. 
 
 Discovery of a southern continent — My first view— Take sketches — 
 We land on Possession Island — Penguins by the million — We hoist 
 the Pritish flag— Return to the ships — A magnificent scene — High 
 peaks — Mounts Sabine and Ilerschell— Within 500 miles of the 
 Magnetic Pole — Mount Melbourne— Franklin Island, &c. 
 
 Mouday, January wilt, 1841. — At the early hour of 
 2 30 a.m., of the middle watch, land was reported ahead 
 froin the " crow's nest," and little more than an hour 
 afterwards, at 3.45, the officer of the watch called me, as 
 all the officers in charge of the different watches were so 
 well aware of my habit of coming on deck at any hour of 
 the twenty-hour, day or night, to take sketches of any land 
 of interest in sight, or objects of natural history worthy 
 of record ; and upon such an announcement as this, in the 
 very high latitude we were in, it may be well imagined not 
 a moment was lost in the present instance on my part in 
 leaving my comfortable bed, even in such a climate as 
 this, tor the deck. 
 
 This newly-discovered land at first appeared very 
 indistinctly through a light haze, and a few light clouds 
 skirling the horizon. It was best seen on the port-bow, 
 where I could just trace the faint outline of a somewhat 
 conical summit of a lofty mountain, having a steep escarp- 
 ment, longitudinally streaked white with snow. After 
 the lapse of about an hour it became so intermingled 
 with the hazy, cloudy horizon, as to give rise to doubts 
 in ilie minds of some as to its being in reality land at all. 
 
 '■\ \ 
 
Sabine, -nt- Eastern side of ihe roounlain first seen. 
 
 1841. 
 
 VIE 
 
 Vincent Brooki, Day & Son, Liih. 
 
 PAG* IJtt— vol I. 
 
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 'UJiS 
 
 
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K McCormick, R.N., del. 
 
 Mount Herschel. 
 
 Cape McC 
 
 
 R. McCormick, R.N., del. 
 
 Mount Melbourne, or Crater Peak, and the land between Mounts Herschel and Erebus, Jam 
 
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 4 \ 
 
 ■■• ( 
 
 
 
 
 ^"^"^ Cape McCormick, 
 
 Mount Sabine. 
 
 Possession Island in Lat. 71° 56' S. 
 
 ■ ' ......... 3.f^^-^_... 
 
 
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 VIEWS OF THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT -VICTORIA LAND. 
 

 
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 A . .^' 
 
 
 Lat, 71*" 56' S. 
 
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 bk. R.N., del. 
 
 First appearance of the land trending westward, January I 
 
 ITORIA LAND. 
 
Eastern side of the mountain first seen. 
 
 
 ^i-^^'-^"^^,'!' 
 
 
 
 Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Lith. 
 
 nding westward, January llth, 1841. 
 
 PACB 150— VOL I. 
 
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 T 
 
Discovery of the SotUhern Continent. 
 
 I5> 
 
 At nine a.m., however, when I again saw it, it had become 
 sufficiently well defined and clear in outline to enable me 
 to get a sketch of it. It extended from S.E. by S. to 
 S.W, by S. ; very high, and enveloped in a mantle of 
 snow, except the lower portions of the steep escarpment 
 rising above the sea, and these were black, where not 
 longitudinally streaked with snow ; but the whole of the 
 upper part of this vast mountain range was an entire 
 gUiciation beneath a white mantle of snow, relieved only 
 at intervals by the dark apex of some hummock or 
 projecting mountain peak, peering through the snow-clad 
 mantle. The weather was all that could be desired for 
 giving effect to such a magnificent panorama, as gradually 
 unfolded itself like a dissolving view to our astonished 
 eyes. The sky was a clear azure blue, with the most 
 brilliant sunshine; the thermometer at 31°, with a fresh 
 breeze from the westward. The refraction in the atmo- 
 sphere caused the land to appear visible at a much greater 
 distance, for we were all day standing in towards it. The 
 northern side, which we were approaching, presented a very 
 remarkable appearance: a cluster of white, angular-shaped 
 hummocks or small peaks in the background, resembling 
 a vast mass of crystallization, having a steep wall or 
 escarpment of black rock like lava in the foreground next 
 the sea, near which several large icebergs lay aground, 
 and evidently had bejn separated from the barrier, for 
 where the land trended to the south-east, a whole line of 
 them were in process of formation, and off which a small 
 island with several rocks are grouped, from which a 
 narrow stream of ice extends out to seaward. We tacked 
 ship during the first watch ; and at eleven p.m. I 
 got another sketch of the coast. Saw several birds 
 about — a stormy petrel, a gigantic petrel, a white petrel, 
 a pintado, and some penguins. The latitude at noon 
 was 71° 14' 45'', and longitude 171° 15', consequently 
 we are now beyond Captain Cook's farthest, and have 
 
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152 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 discovered a new land, of so extensive a range of coast- 
 line, attaining such an altitude, as to justify, from its 
 general aspect, the appellation of a " Southern Continent," 
 in the highest latitude within the Antarctic Circle yet 
 known, and we have now but Weddell's track to get 
 beyond. 
 
 TucsdiJV, 12///. — At 9.50 a.m. I accompanied Captain 
 Ross and some others of the officers in the cutter to 
 take possession of the land, landing on an islet lying off 
 the mainland, which was christened " Possession Island." 
 Abernethy, Captain Ross's old follower, and our gunner 
 and ice-master, steered the boat as coxswain. It was a 
 long pull along shore, tossed about by the swell amongst 
 the ice, in a fruitless attempt to reach a projecting head- 
 land against a strong current setting us into the bight 
 amid a great ice-ripple, so that we were obliged to bear 
 up and run through an opening in the ice to leeward, a 
 perfect race, so rapid that had the water been shallow 
 enough to ground the boat, she would have been upset 
 instantly. The margin or ice- foot on which we at last 
 effected a landing took us upon a nearly level surface, a 
 guano-bed in fact, formed by a colony of penguins for 
 ages past. It had attained such a depth as to give an 
 elastic sensation under the feet, resembling a dried-up 
 peat-bog. It would afford valuable cargoes of guano for 
 whole fleets of ships for years to come, could they only 
 peneirate the vast packs of ice we have just forced our 
 way through at such risk, and which constitute an impass- 
 able barrier to ships as they are ordinarily constructed. 
 
 The penguins indeed, with their young all covered with 
 down, formed such a rookery here, that the whole place 
 and sea around seemed alive with them. In such count- 
 less myriads were they congregated, not only over the 
 incubation area below, but up the sides of the black lava 
 rocks in tier above tier to the very summit, which attained 
 the height of 300 feet, flanking the guano-bed on the 
 
1^ 
 
 r: i 
 
 Pcuguin Rookery on Possession Island. 153 
 
 riijht, that it was like a tliistle-bcd to pass through, so 
 thickly formed were their ranks, and without kicking them 
 to right and left there was no getting through their dense 
 legions. The old birds stoutly defended their young, 
 attacking the intruder on their domain in front and rear 
 with open mouth, sending forth at the same time such 
 harsh notes of defiance, in which the whole colony 
 united in concert, that we could scarcely hear each other 
 speak so as to be understood. These sturdy, bold birds,' 
 standing erect on their tails, with the horny feathers of 
 both head and neck ruflRed in anger, their flipper-like 
 wings extended from their sides, looked altogether the 
 most ludicrous and grotesque objects imaginable. 
 
 In many places the young birds were grouped together 
 in knots of a dozen or two, encircled by the old birds, 
 forming a barrier around them. 
 
 Not a single specimen of an egg was to be found, the 
 season of incubation having already passed. On taking 
 tlie water they slide down the icy margin of the ice-foot 
 on their tails and the soles of their feet, dashing into the 
 sea with only their heads appearing above the surface, 
 some leaping out like bonilo in pursuit of flying fish ; and 
 I observed one bird make a most extraordinary leap up- 
 wards from the sea to the top of a perpendicular piece of 
 ice, certainly not less than a fathom in height above the 
 water, alighting on its feet like a cat. The perfume 
 arising from this colony was certainly not of an Arabian 
 sweetness, for even before the boat reached the shore the 
 scent wafted off upon the waters was all but stifling. 
 The population of this colony might be estimated by 
 millions. Some of the old birds had their breasts stained 
 red, as if from blood at first sight, but which I subse- 
 quently found arose from their resting on their breasts 
 upon their excrement, which was frequently tinted of a 
 red colour. I noticed several small heaps of pebbles 
 about the size of a nest amongst the birds, which I could 
 
 
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 W 
 
154 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 Vij 
 
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 only account for by supposing they had been rejed 
 from their stomachs, as I have often found the sto 
 of the penguins, whose skins I have preserved, frfltNpt 
 pebbles, as in the seals. The mature bird weighs about 
 lo lbs., the upper surface of the body being of a dark 
 greyish ash colour, and approaching to black in some 
 instances, with the under surface white ; beak and under 
 the chin black ; legs of a pale flesh colour. 
 
 Several lestrises, and apparently a new species, had 
 taken up their residence in the midst of the colony, and 
 from their incessantly sweeping overhead on wing, and 
 alighting amongst the penguins, would also appear to 
 have their own young there. I shot one flying overheard, 
 and knocked down an old penguin with my geological 
 hammer, and put him in my haversack for the collection, 
 with a few hastily collected specimens of the black lava 
 rock. The only other bird I saw flying about the island 
 was the gigantic petrel. I did not observe the faintest 
 trace of vegetation, not so much as a lichen on the bare 
 volcanic rocks, or even a seaweed on the shoal. But our 
 stay was so brief — only some twenty five minutes — in 
 consequence of the threatening aspect of the weather, 
 that I had barely time to cross over the penguin rookery 
 to the base of the black lava mount, which I was just 
 about ascending when my recall was made. 
 
 After the flag was unfurled, hoisted, and the queen's 
 health drunk in a glass of ' v by each of the party, 
 three cheers were given on ' ,.g possession of the land, 
 no less a domain than a continent, in all probability 
 exceeding in magnitude the continents of either the Old 
 or the New World, ir the name of her Majesty. Its 
 productions are indeed only ice and guano. We shoved 
 off from this lone islet in the boat at 11.15 a.m , with 
 the Terror's boat in company, containing her captain 
 and some of her officers, who had landed after us. 
 
 To avoid the race on returning, we pulled round the 
 
w 
 
 /^ Hv^^^ ^rftvH/»U, HotxUuA 4 4^ yA«^' 
 
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A Fingal's Cave in miniature. 
 
 155 
 
 island, in by the bluff, black headland, passing several 
 isolated rocks, some seven in all ; one likened to a 
 leaning tower, another of a rhomboidal form, and a 
 massive black, circular rock, somewhat resembling a 
 martello tower, with a hole through its base, vaulted over. 
 On this side of the islet a perpendicular wall of basalt 
 or lava faces the sea, and it has been worn smooth 
 at its base, and to a considerable height above it by the 
 action of the waves and the ice. 
 
 There is a beautiful cavern in the face of the rock, 
 with a fine display of columnar basalt, quite a Fingal's 
 Cave in miniature. The columns all most symmetri- 
 cally vertical. In several places the rocks were per- 
 forated with caves. The summit of the island, in one 
 bearing, resembles a bishop's mitre, and on this side two 
 very remarkable projections of rock were compared to 
 human forms, seated in front of a battlement, to which 
 we at once gave the name of Victoria and Albert, as 
 presiding over the new land we have been so fortunate 
 to add to their dominions, now ranging from pole to pole. 
 The former figure seemed draped in something like a 
 veil, and the latter in a cloak. When we had rounded 
 the Circular Rock, we got sight of the Terror^ more than 
 hull down, to windward, and on further pulling round a 
 large berg forming on this side of the island, we opened 
 the Erebus, but also at some distance from us. The 
 weather now wore a very threatening aspect, black clouds 
 rising in the horizon, with every appearance of blowing 
 a: a ihick weather coming on, rendering our position a 
 somewhat perilous one. The " Mother Cary's chicken," 
 ill-omened bird of the Scorm, and a lestris were inces- 
 santly flying over our heads, the latter so near it might 
 have been knocked down by a stone or an oar. Doubt- 
 less we were as great a mystery to these lone denizens of 
 the southern pole as Cook's ships were to the South Sea 
 Islanders in the last century. 
 
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156 
 
 I 'ovaots of Discovery 
 
 m\^ 
 
 The Erebus soon discovered our position, and at once 
 bore up, standing towards us, and the Terror shortly 
 afterwards followed her example. We got on bo;ird at 
 12.45, "1"^''"' ^'lated by our excursion, soon after which it 
 came on so thick and foggy, with a fall of snow, that we 
 wholly lost sigl-.t of the land, which would have been 
 anything but pleasant for us had we been still in the 
 
 boat. 
 
 In the evening saw large flights of the pintado, as 
 many as from 200 to 300 in a flock, passing the ship 
 with a white pe'.rel or two. Air keen, with the thermo- 
 meter at 30°, wind N.W., latitude at noon 71° 51', longi- 
 tude 170^ 52'. 
 
 Wednesday, 13///, and Thursday, \^th. — Blowing a 
 south-easterly gale, with cloudy and thick weather, and 
 small snow at times, preventing any further communica- 
 tion with the land for the present. Ship rolling a great 
 deal in a short, broken sea. Pintados flying around the 
 ship in great numbers, with a white petrel or two. Saw 
 two or three large whales blowing within a hundred yards 
 of the ship. Employed to-day and yesterday skinning 
 birds, penguins, white petrel, anci lestris. Thermometer 
 29°, latitude at noon 71° 51', longitude 172° 50'. 
 
 Friday, \^tli. — Beating to windward off the islands 
 all day. Strong breezes, weather remarkably fine, with 
 a clear blue sky and bright sun. I took several sketches 
 from the stern-boat, of this wonderful land. The southern- 
 most headland in sight presented a very bold aspect. 
 The lofty, magnificent-looking coast-line appeared to a 
 great advantage this evening, standing out in such strong 
 relief against the clear blue forming the background. The 
 thickly grouped, angular-shaped, small peaKS, or hum- 
 mocks, clad in snow of the purest white, the whole resem- 
 bling a vast mass of crystallization, but on such a huge 
 and splendid scale, as nature's laboratory alone could pro-, 
 duce. The highest peaks, majestically towering above 
 
Moi^nifiicnt Mountain Range. 
 
 >57 
 
 a stratum of light, fleecy, white clouds, reflected the rays 
 of the setting, or rather declining, sun — (for that lumi- 
 nary here now never sets throughout the whole twenty- 
 four hours) — upon the facets of the angles on which 
 it fell with a pure and silvery light, whilst the others 
 were thrown into the deepest shade, at once displaying 
 the continuity of outline of the mountain range, unfolding 
 and bringing into view the minutest irregularity of the 
 surface, whether eminences or depressions. Saw a 
 large berg in shore, which had only separated from the 
 land-ice this morning, and in capsizing had showed 
 the rock and soil attached to it uppermost. We 
 passed a thin stratum of widely scattered small bits of 
 ice ; a gigantic petrel and some pintados flying about 
 the ship. Latitude 71° 56', longitude 171° 51', thermo- 
 meter 31°, wind south-easterly. 
 
 Saiiifday, \6tli. — Gained but little to windward of the 
 islands since yesterday. 
 
 Sunday, i 7///, — Still beating to windward. Saw this 
 evening another headland to windward, extending out to 
 the southward, which I had observed, though less dis- 
 tinctly, last night, having a trending-in of the coast 
 between it and the bluff cape which has been so long in 
 sight to windward. In the first watch I had a fine view 
 of the mountain peaks. The angles taken gave to the 
 highest peak an altitude of 8444 feet. In latitude 
 72° 10', longitude 174° 23', thermometer 28° Fahr. 
 
 Monday, i8th. — Cloudy, but fine day, with a moderate 
 breeze and smooth water. Loom of the land barely 
 visible, and not a particle of ice about us. Saw a white 
 petrel, and many pintados. The beautiful crystal-shaped 
 mountain peak has an altitude of 7867 feet, which, with 
 the barn-shaped mountain, forms the most striking 
 elevations of the whole of this wide mountain range. 
 Latitude 72° 57' 59", longitude 176° 5' 57", thermometer 
 30°, wind southerly. On first making this land the 
 
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 Voyaj^es of Discovery. 
 
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 angles taken gave to the highest summit an altitude of 
 9096 feet. This afternoon I shot two pintados from the 
 deek, from near the fore-rigging, both to windward. The 
 first bird fell when the ship was on the starboard-tack, 
 striking the gunwale just abaft the main-rigging, and 
 bounding overboard. The second biid was flying before 
 me, when on the port-tack, hovering over the fore- 
 topsail yard, falling to leeward on the forecastle, and 
 was picked up by one of the crew, and brought to me. 
 It proved to be the young and immature Procellaria 
 cupcnsis, and the first specimen I have hitherto been 
 able to obtain. I have been thus minute in whal may 
 appear trifling details under the impression that it may 
 prove of service to others, who may hereafter be placed 
 under similar circumstances as myself, with a desire to 
 secure rare or new species of birds, with no boat with 
 which they could be picked up. During the first watch, 
 whilst on the port-tack, I shot a white petrel, which, in 
 falling, struck against the main-sail, and fell on deck to 
 leeward, the best specimen I have as yet succeeded 
 in thus obtaining. At eleven p.m. I saw the land very 
 distinctly on the lee-bow. The night fine, with a clear 
 blue sky. At midnight, when I left the deck, the sun 
 was about three degrees above the horizon. Our 
 observations gave latitude 76^^ south, longitude 145° 20' 
 east, placing the magnetic pole 500 miles south-west 
 of us. 
 
 Tuesday, 19///. — A lovely day for these regions, indeed 
 for any climate, the sun shining forth from a clear blue 
 sky, and we were becalmed at noon in smooth water. The 
 thermometer 32°, above which it rarely indeed rises within 
 the Antarctic circle. But the atmosphere seems as mild, 
 pleasant, and congenial as on the finest May day in 
 England. We heard the loud, harsh cry of the penguin 
 — " Qua, qua " — to windward, and a seal rose forty or fifty 
 yards on the starboard side of the ship. We are standing 
 
i. w 
 
 Croivding all sail to the Southward. 
 
 159 
 
 in for the land, its magnificent mountain outline pre- 
 sented to the eye a wonderful scene of beauty, as the 
 highest peak stood out in fine relief against the deep 
 azure sky. As the day wore on, in the afternoon a fine 
 northerly breeze sprang up, after having had a week of 
 southerly winds to check us, off this newly-discovered 
 land. 
 
 Both ships now crowded on all sail for the southward, 
 in the 73° of latitude, under studding-sails, low and aloft, 
 on both sides, from the two large lower studding-sails to 
 topgallant and royals ; and under this tower of canvas 
 the old ship only made five knots along the land. Several 
 lestrises flying about us, and, during the first watch, a few 
 of the immature petrels, and a white petrel. I shot and 
 secured one of the former from the quarter-deck boat, 
 on the port side, and it fell into the quarter-boat on the 
 same side. When I went below at 12.45 t'^^- -"J" 
 appeared like a beautiful, bright, white globe, about 
 three or four degrees above the horizon, on the port 
 side. An island was visible on the starboard-bow. 
 Latitude at noon 72° 31', longitude 172° 49'. 
 
 Wednesday^ 20th. — Cloudy, overcast, gloomy day, 
 with variable winds, and making but little progress to the 
 southward. The land, for the most part, enveloped in 
 clouds. We were abeam of a bold, black headland for 
 most of the day. A stream of ice skirted the horizon. 
 Thermometer 31°, latitude 73° 47', longitude 171° 50', 
 Captain Ross to-day gave me some specimens of red 
 coral and shells, brought up with the dredge-net, from a 
 depth of 270 fathoms, when sounding yesterday at 
 two p.m., in latitude 72° 31', longitude 172° 7'. 
 
 Thursday^ 21st. — This forenoon, the same dark, bluff 
 headland seen yesterday appeared through the haze and 
 clouds to-day, bearing W.N.W., with some white snowy 
 peaks, having the appearance of land in the E.N.E. on 
 weather beam. Weather gloomy, with a few flakes of 
 
 
 'I; 
 
i6o 
 
 r()yoi;cs of Discovery. 
 
 i'-\ 
 
 small snow fallinj,^ ab(Hit noon. The pack seen from the 
 
 masl-head to the southward and westward. Durin^r the 
 
 first watch two lestrises passed the ship. In the cahn the 
 
 water had an undulating' dti-p blue appearance, from the 
 
 intensity of the tint of blue in the sky overhead. At 
 
 midnight the sun looked unusually brii^ht, being about 
 
 three degrees above the horizon in the K.S.I':., bearing 
 
 S. 70" V^. The land ai)pearing like an island bore from 
 
 S.S.W. to W.S.W.; latitude 74", longitude 170° 43', 
 
 thermometer 30". 
 
 Friday, 2ind. — Fine morning; the bluff headland still 
 in sight ; wind easterly, thermometer 31", latitude 73° 56', 
 longitude 172" 20'. As night closed in we saw the last of 
 the land at a longdistance astern, the sun at the time 
 shining brightly on it. 
 
 Saturday, 2yd. — Thick weather, with snow, blowing 
 fresh, and a short head-sea. Our latitude at noon, by 
 dead reckoning, made us to the southward of Wed- 
 dell's farthest south, and consequently nearer to the 
 South Pole than any other ship has hitherto attained ; 
 Weddell's farthest being in latitude 74° 15', ours 74° 23' 
 D.R., in the longitude of 175° 35' E. Captain Ross, on 
 the occasion, spent the evening in the gun-room with us, 
 and our toast was ' Better luck still." Thermometer 
 30°, wind N.E. Captain Ross gave me some medusae 
 brought up in the dredge from a depth of 300 fathoms 
 in the last middle watch. 
 
 Monday, 25///. — A fine clear day, but the air very chilly, 
 the thermometer being down to 27*^ at noon, with southerly 
 wind ; land just visible on the lee-bow, with a very high 
 peak faintly outlined on the weather-quarter. The 
 pack was also visible, and at eight p.m., when I went 
 on deck, we were standing along the pack edge, which 
 was backed by a mountain range. One lofty peak, 
 named Mount Melbourne, not measured (magnetic dip 
 88° 10') but supposed to be the highest land, evidently 
 
 I' 'I 
 
Off Mount Mc/doiinii', 
 
 i6i 
 
 from its form had been a volcanic vent to this land. 
 Its symmetrically and perfectly shaped crater at the 
 summit, and altogether fine outline, could not have been 
 surpassed even by Mount Etna or Vesuvius, as it reared 
 its towering head above the mist which concealed most 
 of the surrounding land, comparatively nmch lower, and 
 Hanking its conical peak on either side. Beyond, and to 
 the right, the land again rose to a considerable altitude, 
 and still farther to the N.N.W., another apparently in- 
 sulated group of mountains appeared. About 8.20 we 
 went about amongst some loose straggling ice. The 
 main pack seemed to be formed of heavy masses and 
 closely packed, more so than any we have hitherto met 
 with, extending along a whole line of coast like a belt. 
 1 took a sketch of the land, and during the first watch 
 I went up into the fore-top, to have a look at the moun- 
 tains from an elevated position. The night was fine, 
 with a clear blue sky and keen air ; I shot three white 
 petrel Hying over the mast-head, two of them fell on 
 board, which I secured, and the third but narrowly 
 escaped me, a gust of wind just carrying it over the 
 stern. The first one, which fell into the main-top, had a 
 good-sized fish in its mouth, much resembling a pilchard, 
 but its head was gone. The second one fell into the 
 port quarter-boat, and I gave it to Captain Ross. 
 Several more were flying about the ship. At midnight 
 Captain Ross took an altitude of the sun, which was 
 shining brightly about three degrees and a half above 
 the horizon, and found the latitude to be 74° 45'. I turned 
 in at one a.m. 
 
 Tuesday, 26th. — Cold, raw, gloomy day, with a short 
 head-sea and southerly wind ; thermometer 25", latitude 
 75° 2' 38", longitude 169° 4', land very indistinctly seen. 
 
 Wednesday, 2'jth — Fine day; this forenoon an island 
 appeared on the starboard-bow to windward, and the ship 
 was hove-to off it at five p.m. The secor,\d cutter was 
 
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 Voyaqcs of Dhcovery. 
 
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 lowered, and Captain Ross, with a party of oflTicers, 
 landed upon it, at the same time with a boat from the 
 Terror^ with her captain and some of her officers. An 
 accident, however, happened to Dr. Hooker, the assistant- 
 surgeon of the Erebus^ who fell into the water in attempt- 
 ing to land from the boat, consequently he with others 
 were not permitted to leave the boat at all, and Captain 
 Ross himself landed with the Terror s officers. Po.-session 
 of the island was taken in the customary way, when it 
 was christened Franklin Island. Both boats returned 
 to the Erebus at 8.40 p.m., and the Terror s boat 
 did not leave with her party for thtir own ship until 
 1,30 a.m. 
 
 Franklin Island is purely volcanic, being composed of 
 lava, and having a large berg forming at its southern 
 extremity, with another large, square-topped island of 
 ice lying at a short distance off it, aground ; latitude 
 75° 48', longitude 168° 10', thermometer 24°, wind S. 
 
 It is with regret that I should have occasion here to 
 allude to the circumstance of a very injudicious order 
 of Captain Ross's in a voyage like ours ; nor should I, 
 but for its prejudicial effects in the results on the col- 
 lection, as the sequel will show. This order forbade the 
 ships being left without a medical officer on board of 
 each, however near to each other or the land. 
 
 I do not hesitate to say that many highly interesting 
 observations, both in natural history and geography and 
 the collateral sciences, in a newly discovered land, in so 
 high a latitude as we have had the good fortune to 
 attain, and which may perchance never be again visited, 
 have been lost to the world, through this ill-timed order. 
 And notwithstanding my having had some personal in- 
 fluence with Captain Ross, both of us having served 
 together as youths under our mutual old commander and 
 friend. Sir Edward Parry, I could not induce him to 
 cancel any order he had once placed in the order-book, 
 
I m 
 
 An injudicious Order. 
 
 163 
 
 so strong were his prejudices, and as a sequence so 
 difficult to reason with. One medical officer left with 
 the ships, as I pointed out to him, would be a sufficient 
 guarantee in the remote chance of any accident liappening 
 on board during so short an interval of time. 
 
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 I'eak of Mount Kicbus, 120 miles distant. {SW />ay 176.) 
 
 chapti<:r XV. 
 
 The volcanic niouiitains " Krehus " and " Tenor '—Great barrier of ice 
 — 'I'he Barrier Biglit— A fascinating scene — Twenty- four hours on 
 deck — Seals and whales — Kxploration of NIcMurdo Hay. 
 
 Thufscfay, Janunry 28/ Ii, 1841.— We were startled by 
 the most unexpected discovery, in this vast region of 
 glaciation, of a stupendous volcanic mountain in a high 
 state of activity. At ten a.m., upon going on deck, my 
 attention was arrested by what appeared at the moment 
 to be a fine snowdrift, driving from the summit of a 
 lofty crater-shaped peak, rising from the centre of an 
 island (apparently) on the starboard-bow. 
 
 As we made a nearer approach, however, this apparent 
 srowdrift resolved itself into a dense column of black 
 smoke, intermingled with flashes of red flame emerging 
 from a magnificent volcanic vent, so near the South 
 Pole, and in the very centre of a mighty mountain range 
 encased in eternal ice and snow. 
 
 The peak itself, which rises to the altitude of 12,400 
 feet above the level of the sea, is situated in the lati- 
 
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 PAfiK 164— vol.. I. ( 
 
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R. Mccormick, k.iN., del. 
 
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 R. McCgrmick, R.N., del 
 
 View of the mounta 
 
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 Commencement of the Great Barrier from the terminal cape of Mount Terror an extinct volcano, anH Mount Erebus still in a state of high activity in Lat. 77= 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 fc*(a»«a*^.» 1 • V,. , .1, 
 
 View of the mountain range 
 
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 of extinct volcanic cones (much resembling the extinct craters of Auvergne, in central France, only glaciated), forming the starboard side of McM 
 
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 high activity in Lat. 77° 31', Long. 167° i' Enst. January aSth, 1841. 
 
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 lie starboard side of McMurdo Bay, and nearest to the Magnetic Pole, February 17th, 1841. 
 

 
 Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Litn 
 
 PAGB 164— vol.. I. 
 
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 li' 
 
Discovery of Mounts Erebus and Terror. 165 
 
 lude of 77° 31' S., and in longitude 167" i' K., and \vas 
 named after our ship, Mount Erebus. Adjacent to it, 
 and only separated by a saddle of ice-clad land on its 
 east, arose a sister mountain to the height of 10,900 feet, 
 but now extinct, though having the same general outline, 
 also doubtless belched forth at no very distant period 
 its volumes, of smoke and flame. It received the 
 name of Mount Terror, after that of our consort. Its 
 sides were partially covered with snow, presenting the 
 appearance of having been melted in many of the depres- 
 sions on its sides, and again frozen into pools, glittering 
 lil<e molten metal in the sun's rays, and extending down 
 the sides of the mountain, in a broken serpentine stream 
 to the great wall of ice, which extends from its base, 
 forming a point or cape. This sea-wall, having a per- 
 perdicular face and tabular summit, averages. 150 feet 
 in altitude, with caverns hollowed out by the constant 
 action of the waves, producing a remarkable effect of 
 light and shade along its whole margin which extends in 
 a south-easterly and north-westerly direction, and along 
 which our course lay to the southward, between it and 
 the pack. 
 
 On the starboard beam another small island appeared, 
 bearing south, which received the name of Beaufort 
 Island, after our excellent and talented hydrographer 
 to the Admiralty, Sir Francis Beaufort. There was ali;o 
 an appearance of land broad on the port bow. At five 
 p.m. I went up to the crow's-nest, but could perceive no 
 termination to the great ice-wail, which we have named 
 the Great Southern Barrier, and barring our way to the 
 pole. We are shaping a N.W. course along it, distant, 
 perhaps, three or four leagues. A number of white petrel, 
 and now and then a solitary lestris of predatory habits, 
 like its congener the Skua gull of the north, have 
 been the companions of our voyage for the last few days. 
 Weather very fine and clear, thermometer 29° ; wind S.W., 
 
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1 66 
 
 Voyn/it'x of Discovery. 
 
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 latitude 76" 57'; lonKitudc 169^ 24' 50" K. ; ship undtT 
 studding and topgallant sails. 
 
 Sntunioy, 30///. — Yesterday we ran parallel with the 
 harrier, hut to-day a ehangc in the wind, and the weather 
 beeoniing thiek and gloomy, with a fall of small snow, 
 compelled us to stand to the northward, and to relin- 
 quisii, for the present, the following up the course of the 
 barrier. There was neither land nor ice in sight to-day, 
 thermometer 28', latitude 77° 35' I). R., longitude i8i° 
 20'. We have followed this lofty barrier of steep and 
 perpendicular ice-cliffs, varying in height from 100 or 150 
 to 200 and 300 feet, for upwards of 100 miles. The 
 depth 410 fathoms; the lead in sounding sank at least 
 two feet in soft green mud, seemed to indicate that the 
 outer edge of the barrier could not be attached to the 
 bottom, but must be bonic •.'•d« by the water. The 
 
 high land forming the background of the barrier, being 
 the southernmost known land, was named after our 
 worthy old arctic chief, Sir Edward Parry, the Parry 
 Mountains. 
 
 TuesihiVy February 2nd. — A beautiful day, with bright 
 sunshine, quite congenial to our feelings. At noon the 
 clear, blue sea was as smooth as a mirror from the calm 
 reigning. Only a solitary berg just visible, through the 
 light haze skirting the horizon on the port beam. In the 
 evening we made the loose stream-ice, and our old ac- 
 quaintance the fixed barrier again, appearing beyond the 
 stream of ice or pack, like a long, low cloud skirting the 
 horizon to the eastward. We entered the pack with light 
 northerly winds, then bore up and got out of it again. 
 A whale hove in sight and a gigantic petrel, with a white 
 one or two. At the time we wore ship, 9.15 p.m., our lati- 
 tude was 78° 3' 6'' S. and longitude 187° E., the barrier 
 being about fifteen miles distant, extending from about 
 S. to N.N.E., skirted along its whole length by loose ice, 
 preventing us from making any further attempt in this 
 
 *!' 
 
Three large Penguins caught. 
 
 167 
 
 quarter. We got soundings in 260 fathoms, green mud 
 and clay. The height of the barrier was here 160 
 fett, its thickness probably 1000 feet, extending 250 
 miles from the cape at the foot of Mount Terror ; the 
 face of the barrier here being in the latitude 78^° S. 
 
 Thursday, ^tli. — Employed all day sailing through loose 
 ice, working the ship between some very heavy masses 
 in the narrow lanes of water. The pack is studded with 
 several bergs. Saw three seals on the ice, and three or 
 four of the largest kind of penguin, with several white 
 petrel. This has been the coldest day we have yet ex- 
 perienced, but nevertheless fine, with a clear, blue sky, 
 appearing through the white curdled clouds of the brightest 
 and purest azure. As the day closed in, the whole scene 
 presented a remarkably wild aspect, the bright " ice- 
 blink," which lighted up the horizon in the direction of 
 the barrier, which itself was not visible, was streaked 
 longitudinally with the dark rays proceeding from the 
 lower margin of a super-imposed bank of clouds, which 
 rose thick and dark to windward, and threatened a heavy 
 fall of snow, or thick, overcast weather. The thermo- 
 meter at noon was only 22°, at nine p.m. it was 16°, and 
 at midnight fell to 15°, the lowest that we have had it 
 yet. A fine working southerly breeze blowing. Latitude 
 '■,f o 17" S., longitude 192° 18' E. At eight o'clock 
 last evening we hove overboard a cask containing a 
 paper, with our latitude and longitude, when farthest 
 south, signed by the captain and officers. It floated 
 lightly and buoyantly astern, a very conspicuous object 
 in this waste of waters and ice; in latitude 77° o' S., 
 longitude 187° 24' E, 
 
 Friday, 5///. — Sailing amongst loose ice mixed with 
 some heavy masses. Three of the large kind of penguins 
 were caught after having been wounded by small shot on 
 a piece of ice from the boat, two weighing 66 lbs. each, 
 and the third 57 lbs. Saw two whales spouting. At 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery 
 
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 eight p.m. the ship was made fast to a piece of ice, and 
 the cutter lowered to get some ice on board. At ten 
 p.m. hoisti^d in cutter, and cast off from piece of ice, with 
 about three tons on board, to replenish our tanks with 
 water. At eleven the boat was again lowered and two 
 very pretty seals with small heads and noses were taken 
 from a piece of ice. The thermometer had fallen from 
 \^^ at noon to 13", wind S., latitude 77° 10' 32" S., longi- 
 tude 192" 48' 10" \i. 
 
 Monday^ %tli. — I'or the last two or three days we have 
 been beating up for the pack-edge in an open sea, having 
 only a berg or two in sight, with several whales. To- 
 day, at five p.m., the barrier was seen from the mast- 
 head during the first watch, as we sailed between the pack 
 and the barrier. 
 
 As we ran for some 160 miles along the barrier, 
 we discovered that a whole chain of table-topped bergs, 
 shed from the barrier iuelf, had grounded on a bank 
 about sixty miles distant from its edge and 200 miles 
 from its origin at Cape Crozier, the bergs being from 
 150 to 200 feet in height. 
 
 Tuesday, gth. — The wondrous scene nature has un- 
 folded here, even beyond what might have been anti- 
 cipated in this land of wonderment, has had the effect 
 of riveting me to the deck for the last twenty-four hours, 
 a volunteer and most willing sharer in the duties of 
 every officer of the watches during that period. Last 
 night, after sounding in 275 fathoms green mud, the 
 barrier at midnight was seven miles distant, its ex- 
 tremes bearing from S.E. to N. \ W., and the line 
 of the pack-ice from S.W. J S. to N.N.W. A W. 
 Being myself most anxious to trace this mighty wall 
 of ice continuously without a break so as to see all I 
 could of it, I never turned in at all, but kept the deck 
 throughout the night, a night never to be effaced from 
 memory's tablet to the latest hour of existence ; and well 
 
 \t ;H 
 
 M 
 
The Harrier Jii'ghi a j^rand siine. 
 
 169 
 
 was I rewarded for the temporary saerifice of a night's 
 rest and sleep by the grand and sublime panorama which 
 was unfolded to and arrested my gaze like some striking 
 shifting scene on the stage, as the " noon-day " night of 
 this high latitude wore on, and scene succeeded scene in 
 nature's unrivalled display of her great Creator's works. 
 
 The night, so-called, although in fact day here, was 
 indeed most favourable, being remarkably fine, the azure 
 blue of the sky above was mottled over with curdled 
 white, light cumuli, a mackerel sky in short. To wind- 
 ward the moon's pale, silvery disc every now and then 
 emerged from beneath the clouds on the port beam, 
 whilst the brighter rays from the glorious sun clearly 
 indicated its position behind a bank of cirro-stratus on 
 the starboard beam to leeward. We were sailing along 
 a channel bounded on the starboard by the barrier, and 
 on the port side by the heavy pack, passing through a 
 quantity of young ice in streams varying in breadth, 
 their outlines marked by a deeper shade of colour than 
 the surrounding water. Each piece of ice assumed what 
 we called the pancake ice, in form and size, having the 
 margin slightly elevated and turned up, the pieces thickly 
 packed together, some streams consisting of larger and 
 more irregular-shaped masses, oblong, oval, and of 
 irregular, hexagonal figures, from a foot to three or four 
 feet in diameter, lined as if from several smaller ones 
 having become cemented together. 
 
 Anxious to obtain what I believed to be a new species 
 of the lestris, more especially from so deeply interesting 
 a locality as the great ice-barrier in the highest latitude 
 we have attained, I fired at one hovering over the 
 starboard quarter about midnight, but having only 
 wounded it, it escaped after tumbling over and over in 
 its descent to nearly as low as the quarter-deck boat, 
 then recovering itself somewhat, flew in a direct line for 
 the barrier, with one leg hanging down broken. This 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 was a source of double vexation to me, first, in the loss 
 of so desirable an addition to the ornithological collec- 
 tion ; and lastly, in subjecting the poor bird perhaps to a 
 lingering death from any internal wound it might have 
 received. 
 
 For notwithstanding that my duties as ornithologist 
 compel me to take the lives of these most beautiful and 
 interesting creatures of all the works of their great 
 Creator, I never do so without a sharp sting of pain and 
 qualm of conscience, so fond am I of all the feathered race. 
 But as we have to sacrifice their lives for our food, we 
 cannot do otherwise than meet the claims of science in 
 the same spirit. Beyond this, all wanton destruction of 
 these charming creatures is highly censurable. 
 
 Between midnight and one a.m. I succeeded in adding 
 two more of the elegant white petrel to my collection, 
 one falling dead on the quarter-deck, and the other on 
 the gun-room skylight, having fired at each when hover- 
 ing in a very favourable direction over the mast-head. 
 A third I shot unfortunately proved a life uselessly taken, 
 as it fell overboard into the sea to leeward. At 2.30a.m. 
 I saw a seal swimming on the starboard quarter. During 
 the middle watch the extreme point of the barrier was 
 obscured in mist, and the pack lying to the left of it had 
 an apparent opening between. We passed inside of two 
 large bergs and the barrier. A berg or two, with several 
 large pieces of ice like obelisks, studded the monotonous 
 surface of the pack. The sun's rays reflected on the 
 facets of the curves in the barrier ahead gave to the' 
 whole mass the appearance of a long range of white 
 buildings having the various abutments thrown into light 
 and shade. Whales were numerous here, spouting in 
 all directions, and many white petrels. At four a.m. a 
 whole line of finners were sending up jets of vapour 
 so high as to appear above the barrier. 
 
 At 5.40 a.m. the break in the barrier forming an inlet 
 
 
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 '71 
 
 or bight, perhaps, a quarter of a mile wide, and from a 
 mile to two miles in depth, bounded on its starboard side 
 by a very strikingly bold promontory of ice, for which we 
 had been for some time standing in, and now went about 
 when within a quartiT ol a mile of it, with a moderate 
 breeze blowing. We had tacked none too soon, for its 
 great height above our mast-heads, even at this distance, 
 took the wind out of our sails as we hung in stays. Cap- 
 tain Ross, coming on deck at the moment, rated the 
 lieutenant in charge of the watch for venturing so near 
 before putting the ship about. But conscience forbids 
 my letting him bear all the blame for this bit of daring, 
 the temptation to have a nearer view into this extra- 
 ordinary recess in the barrier having prompted it. When 
 the good old ship's si^YV hrn) het-n presented to the 
 barrier, Captain <ivt>9Ji^'4i,v}L< '^i,tVvviu}Ii.l;s in 330 fathoms, 
 and again at 6.1^ n.m. in ,:;!S i.^homs, green mud as 
 usual, whilst standing off. The only spot where the 
 upper surface of the barrier could be seen was at the 
 further extremity of the bight, the cliffs of ice forming 
 the sides sloping down to a low angle, where they meet, 
 and above which the upper plain surface rose like a 
 smooth, snow-clad, swelling hill in the distant back- 
 ground. The enormous icicles suspended from the 
 basal portions of the steep mural precipices forming 
 the portal and promontory to this great inlet in the 
 southern barrier had a most imposing and striking effect 
 as the old Erebus, when nearest to it, turned her stern 
 towards it, after getting her head round. The whole 
 scene was one calculated to inspire no less awe and 
 wonder than that of Mount Krebus itself, ejecting smoke 
 and flame from the summit of its stupendous peak of 
 thick-ribbed eternal ice and snow. 
 
 The extremes of the pack extended from S.h]. to 
 W^S.W., and the barrier from K-S.!*:. to W.N.W. At 
 10.15 ^^•"^- ^^'^' lacked off the edge of the pack, having 
 
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172 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 passed through a patch of young ice, already beginning 
 to assume a white appearance near a berg. The latitude 
 at noon was 77^ 56' S., and longitude 190° 15' E,, ther- 
 mometer 21°, wind E. About this time a thick fog came 
 on, and the thermometer by two p.m. had sunk to 
 16° Fahr., rendering our return through a somewhat intri- 
 cate channel no very easy matter. At 1.30 p.m. Captain 
 Ross went on board the Terror, to consult with his col- 
 league, Captain Crozier; and soon after his return the 
 fog increased so much we lost sight of our consort. 
 Between five and six p.m. signals were made to her by 
 firing three muskets, three chamber and three large 
 guns, shortening sail at the same time. The night, how- 
 ever, cleared up fine as we stood along the pack-edge 
 on the starboard side. 
 
 As we coasted the line of the barrier we fell in with 
 many whales, both finners and spermaceti. One large 
 black one rose close under our bows, and actually dived 
 under the hull of the ship ; several others at the same time 
 passed very close to us. A very successful whale-fishery 
 might be carried on here ; the whales are of the very 
 largest size, especially the sperniaceli, perhaps the most 
 valuable of all ; could but ships fitted in the ordinary 
 way make their way through the vast and heavy inter- 
 vening packs, a somewhat hazardous affair, however. 
 
 Monday, \^ih. — Repassed Frank!;n Island on our re- 
 turn, in latitude 76° 2', and longitude 170° 15'. Since the 
 loth the aspect of the weather has much changed, assum- 
 ing a wintry appearance, the decks at times covered with 
 snow, and the masts, spars, and running rigging encased 
 in ice, which rattled down on the decks from aloft, hanging 
 about often in long beads or bracelets, with the bows 
 frosted over, giving the ship a very hoary aspect indeed. 
 Whilst running along the pack-edge through streams of 
 ice we passed several large bergs : one long, low one 
 estimited at four miles in len^jth. On Sunday last I 
 
Exploraticn of MacMurdo Bay. 
 
 173 
 
 recomnended Captain Ross to have the hot-air stove 
 lighted for a few hours, to ventilate the ship. The birds 
 about us for the last few days have been white petrel, 
 immature petrels, lestris, a dusky albatross or two, and a 
 stormy petrel. 
 
 Tuesday, \6tli. — Fine day, with light winds and a clear 
 blue sky above ; but the horizon being clouded, rendered 
 the outline of the land indistinct ; as we stood up a deep 
 gulf, with the sea covered with thin pancake ice, occa- 
 sionally passing a fragment of white opaque ice, nearly 
 a calm at times, I noticed several openings in the 
 coast-line on the starboard side, large deep bays, as it 
 were, bounded by very bold headlands. 
 
 Ahead of us once more appeared the grand volcanic 
 mountain of the South Pole, Mount Erebus, with a band 
 of clouds stretching across it. In the evening it was 
 sending forth a dense volume of smoke, in the lower 
 portion of which a red flame might be seen at intervals 
 intermingled with it. It is not an island, as had been 
 supposed on onr first visit ; now clearly proved by our 
 entering the gulf connected with the mainland. We 
 passed a whole line of large whales, whose remarkably 
 long, pointed, black fins bristled above the surface of the 
 water, finners doubtless ; but so little of the outline of 
 the back of the whale is seen above the water ; a group 
 of three or four seals passed near us, and a number of 
 white petrel, and a lestris or two, with some penguins. 
 A man was sent up to the mizzen mast-head to-day, to 
 clear the rigging of ice with a haiiuspike ; when it fell and 
 rattled about the decks like a shower of stones, so hard 
 was it frozen. The thermometer was 32°, wind variable, 
 latitude 76° 32', longitude 166° 12' E. 
 
 Wednesday, \']th. — About three a.m. the land at the 
 head of the gulf was found to be continuous beyond all 
 doubt, uniting Mounts Erebus and Terror with the main- 
 land, forming a deep bay. The ship was consequently 
 
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 Voyaji^cs of Discovery. 
 
 put about, and her course directed out of the gulf again. 
 During the day we stood across the bay towards the land 
 on the starboard side, and in the direction of the Magnetic 
 Pole, which appears to be situated in the midst of the lofty 
 mountains about 1 20 or 160 miles inland of us. We passed 
 through 1. vc <ii"ge quantity of young ice, the pieces of 
 which it is composed having greatly increased in both 
 breadth and thickness since we entered this large bay. 
 I took a sketch of the land, which is comparatively of 
 moderate height, and inclined to an angular form, 
 margined by ■ 'i; • if bay ice, white, smooth, and snow- 
 clad. 
 
 The opening Set\. e 1 *his land and Mount Erebus, 
 forming 'he entrance to t' bay, occupies three points 
 of the coii'.pass ; lIici "• i? . :i'ail island off the mount. 
 At 4.15 p.m. Captain Cioiier \ ,:.' t vo of his officers 
 came on board, remaining till 6.30 a.m., owing to the 
 difficulty in getting a boat to the Ten'or, the young ice 
 with which the whole surface of the bay was covered 
 thickly as far as the eye could reach all round the visible 
 horizon, and through which we were passing all night, 
 greatly interrupting all communication between the ships. 
 
 The pancake ice, from its original pentagonal or 
 hexagonal form, becomes irregularly rounded, turned 
 up at the margin, and the surface crossed by similar- 
 shaped curved edges, as if some three or four had been 
 cemented together ; in this way the inshore pack is 
 rapidly formed. 
 
 I remained on deck, a not unusual circumstance with 
 me, all night; and at 10.30 p.m. I saw the sun set for 
 the first time ; the moon on the wane, forming a slender 
 crescent. During the first watch Mount Erebus pre- 
 sented a splendid spectacle, sending upwards a tall, 
 dense column of smoke, tinted red on the right side, and 
 extending out in that direction in an oblique line of 
 pale red along the sky, a smaller vent appearing on the 
 
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A^caresl approach to the Maqiictic Pole. 
 
 1/5 
 
 first small eminence to the right of the crater; ultimately 
 a bank of dark clouds of a deep neutral tint colour, sur- 
 mounted by a reddish flush with foam-like edges screened 
 the mountain ; the volume of flame-tinted smoke curling 
 just above this stratum of clouds to the right disappeared 
 altogether about one p.m. 
 
 At midnight I shot two white petrel ; the first fell upon 
 the ict on the starboard quarter, and the second on 
 board c.i the port gunwale, behind the quarter-deck 
 boat by the mizzen-shrouds ; saw one stormy petrel, 
 and counted twenty seals lying on the young pack-ice. 
 During the night passed many penguins sitting on the 
 pieces of pancake ice, generally solitary, but occasionally 
 two together, frequently pluming themselves, one reclining 
 on its breast and the other standing near it. These were 
 the smaller kind, having dark upper and white lower 
 surfaces. A small seal, apparently the fur-seal, passed 
 under the port quarter on a piece of ice. There were 
 many white petrel about, so that the otherwise still soli- 
 tude of the scene was thus broken in upon by the variety 
 of animal life around us. During the morning watch we 
 weathered the pack-edge, a dark sky to windward ; 
 thermometer standing at 25°. 
 
 Thursday^ \%th. — At 7.30 a.m., after my long night's 
 vigils on deck, I gladly descended to breakfast, the 
 most social meal of the twenty-four hours. This day we 
 made the nearest approach to the Magnetic Pole, in the 
 early part, running along the pack-edge, through the 
 young ice, and towards the close of the day in an open 
 sea, clear of ice, and very fine weather, with moderate 
 breezes. A small whale swam round the ship with a 
 seal. We found the dip the greatest we have yet had, 
 being 88" 44', and the variation 92° 53'. During the 
 first watch I shot six white petrel, of which 1 secured 
 three for the collection, and singularly the third bird, 
 when wounded, having its leg hanging down, took a 
 
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 176 
 
 Voyages of Discoveiy. 
 
 t\':\ 
 
 flight to windward, then, suddenly tacking in its course, 
 swept round and fell dead on the quarter-deck, as if in 
 the last moments of its ebbing life it yielded up its 
 beautiful form to the altar of science. Of the others, the 
 first fell between the capstan and the gun-room skylight ; 
 the second into the catharpens of the main-top ; a solitary 
 stormy petrel following in the wake of the ship. When 
 I left the deck at midnight Mount Erebus presented a 
 beautiful appearance astern, rearing its lofty peak above 
 the surface of the waters in solitary grandeur ; the 
 surrounding land having become submerged beneath the 
 horizon by the great distance, being not less than 120 
 miles off, the peak so completely isolated as to present 
 all the appearance of an island. The sky was so clear 
 that the volume of smoke from its crater was most 
 distinctly visible, curling upwards in the blue ether. 
 
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 Remarkable rock, like a Rdin.in j^atcway. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Remirkable rock, like a Roman gateway — Singular black dyke on 
 mountain summit— Off Possession Island — Caj^e McCormick — 
 Halleny's Island — Frozen fresh meat— The aurora australis— On 
 the return track— Sighting Bruin Light. 
 
 Friday, igi/i. — Fine clay, running along the land to the 
 northward, which was but indistinctly visible, from the 
 cloudy state of the horizon on the port bow. The polar 
 flags were got on deck for an airing, as it now appenrs 
 very improbable that they will ever fly nearer the 
 Magnetic Pole, at least for this season. During the first 
 watch I saw several bergs and islets on the port quarter, 
 one a very remarkable perforated rock, resembling an 
 old Roman gateway between two towers ; another like 
 the leaning tower of Pisa. At 9.30 p.m. the sun set 
 most beautifully astern, lighting up the horizon with a 
 dazzling flush of red between the land and a bank of 
 dark clouds, which extended alcjng the horizon. The 
 sea was open and clear of ice. Thermometer 24°, wind 
 easterly, latitude 75" 3', and longitude 168' 45', dip 
 87° 49'. Dark nights are now fast closing in again, as 
 the sun now sets for upwards of four hours, which, 
 together with the rapid formation of young ice within the 
 last few days,, and the general aspect of the weather, 
 indicate the near approach of winter. 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery 
 
 Saturday, 2otli. — Blowing a fresh gale, running along 
 the land at the rate of seven knots. It is the same island 
 which appeared on our outward voyage so much like a 
 bold promontory of the mainland. In the evening we 
 were off Possession Island. 
 
 Sioiday, 2isL — Cloudy and unsettled weather ; going 
 before a strong breeze. The land on the port side high 
 and covered with snow, the lofty peaks enveloped in 
 clouds. We doubled a bold, black cape, christened Cape 
 McCormick by Captain Ross, off which several large 
 heavy bergs were lying, and I took a sketch of it. Lati- 
 tude 71° 5', longitude 169° 58'. Land about thirty miles 
 off. In the evening I saw a remarkable black dyke in- 
 tersecting the summit of an inland hill and lofty cone. 
 
 Wednesday, 24///. — Thermometer down to 25°, wind 
 westerly, latitude 70° 14' 39", longitude 167° 34' 30". 
 Going along the land all day, which I took a sketch of 
 soon after tacking, at five p.m., when it bore south-east 
 astern. A number of heavy large bergs skirted the 
 coast-line, and the summits of the snow-clad mountains 
 were half concealed by a girdle of light clouds. The 
 ship was under double-reefed top-sails and close-hauled. 
 A strong, fiery breeze blowing, with a clear blue sky, 
 and bright sun, was very bracing and elastic. A shoal of 
 spotted whales passed on our port quarter. At eight p.m. 
 the sun set behind a narrow bank of clouds, very bright 
 and dazzling. 
 
 Thursday, 25///. — Fine clear day. Beating up for the 
 extreme point of the land, off which a line of packed ice 
 was attached, and bergs lying. Westward of the 
 Admiralty range of mountains and the icy barrier ex- 
 tending from Cape North, in a westerly direction, the 
 land trends, apparently to the southward again, and 
 maintaining its great altitude, a south-westerly course 
 between Victoria Land and Balleny's and D'Urville's 
 Islands might lead to a nearer approach to the 
 
 
Ba/knys Island. 
 
 '79 
 
 Magnetic Pole. In latitude 65", and longitude 162° 
 E;. Whilst drifting down towards the pack, large 
 whales were numerous along the edge of it. About 
 eighty large bergs seen from the mast-head, forming a 
 chain. After some anxious hours we were within some 
 half a mile of the bergs, on which the surf was breaking 
 and roaring, looking out for Wilkes* Land, in the latitude 
 of 64°, and longitude of 164°. At 7.10 p.m. we tacked 
 off the land. Five small islands were seen, and I took 
 a sketch of a very remarkable peak, bearing S.E., 
 strikingly resembling the rock called Lot in Fairyland, 
 St. Helena. Thermometer 20°, wind westerly, latitude 
 70° 6', longitude 167° 27'. At eight p.m. extremes of 
 land bore from S. \ E. to E. by S. \ S. 
 
 Friday, 26th. — Overcast and gloomy weather, snow 
 and mist, with much swell, no land or ice in sight. We 
 have had to-day a greater number and variety of birds 
 flying in the wake of the ship than we have seen since 
 entering the Antarctic circle — white petrel, immature 
 petrel, ash-backed, a stormy, and a gigantic petrel, a 
 sooty albatross, lestris, and several of the pretty blue 
 petrel. Had the hot-air stove lighted to air the ship. 
 Latitude 69° 52', longitude 167" 53'. 
 
 Saturday, 27///. — Gloomy weather, with overcast sky 
 and a strong breeze. At three p.m. I shot a pintado, or 
 immature petrel, flying over the ship, which I secured by 
 its falling in the port-waist. The sky this morning pre- 
 sented a most extraordinary wild aspect, curdled cumuli, 
 mottled over with a fiery red, and the horizon astern was 
 suffused with a glaring red mist. 
 
 Tuesday, March 2nd. — In latitude 68° 27', and longitude 
 168° 6' 18", at three p.m. Saw an appearance of land on 
 the starboard bow, which at eight p.m. proved to be 
 Balleny's Island, bearing S.W. by W. to W. by S.. 
 appearing like two small islands, and very high land, 
 with a lofty peak on the right, on the weather port bow. 
 
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 I 'oyai^cs of Discovery, 
 
 m-'n 
 
 A few ash-backed and numerous pintados about the ship, 
 flying generally very low, skimming the surface of the 
 sea to leeward, and passing under the stern to windward, 
 but not attaining a sufficient altitude to justify me in 
 shooting them, as the odds would be very much indeed 
 against their falling in-board. So our feathered friends 
 were permitted, doubtless to their great satisfaction, to 
 follow their vocations inst(;ad of becoming, at the sacrifice 
 of their lives, immortalized in some of our museums of 
 natural history. Some stars appeared for the first 
 time this evening, looking very bright. Our consort the 
 Terror looked like a ship of glass, so embossed all over 
 in ice was she, her side presenting a long, broad band of 
 white. 
 
 Thursday^ \th. — Blowing a gale of wind, accompanied 
 by a heavy sea. Weather overcast with snow and 
 mist, surrounded on all sides by bergs and heavy stream 
 ice. Dolphin-striker carried away. Latitude 66° 43' 38", 
 longitude 165" 45'. 
 
 Saturday, 6tli. — The finest day we have experienced 
 for some time past, mild to the feelings, with a clear blue 
 sky and sunshine, light winds from the eastward, and 
 calms. Thermometer 31°, latitude 65° 50' 31", longitude 
 164° 45' 13". Passed several bergs, one singular-shaped 
 mass strikingly resembling a village church, with a short, 
 peaked spire rising from a round tower. A solitary 
 white petrel passed the ship. These well-named snow- 
 birds appear to be confined to within the limits of the 
 Antarctic circle, we having first of all fallen in with them 
 in the latitude of 66° S., on the outward-bound voyage, 
 and they are now disappearing again in about the same 
 latitude, the blue petrel now superseding them, with 
 great numbers of the pintado, and an occasional sooty 
 albatross and stormy petrel ; an ash-backed petrel now 
 and then mixing with them. 
 
 Sunday, Jth. — The articles of war read, followed by 
 
 1 i 
 
open Sea where ll'i/hs' Land appears on llie Chart. 181 
 
 prayers. Mild, gloomy clay. Thcrinometer 32°, latitude 
 65" 30', longitude 162" 15'. 1 counted sixteen or seventeen 
 bergs to leeward, on the [)ort side, some of them very large 
 ones ; one in particular was both large and lolty. We 
 have passed over the spot where the American Antarctic 
 Expedition have laid down land, but we found only an 
 open sea, with not the vestige of a bit of land in sight. 
 We had some fresh beef roasted for dinner to-day, which 
 had been killed in December last, and suspended under 
 the mizzen-top in a bread-bag ever since. It turned out 
 most excellent, being more tender and juicy than when 
 first slaughtered. I opened a jar of Tasmania honey on 
 the occasion, which had been given me by my kind 
 friends the Gregsons on my taking leave of them, under 
 their hospitable roof at Risdon. I also broached a Ijottle 
 of whisky. 
 
 Friday^ \2tl1. — Fine day, with strong breezes. At 
 three p.m. I shot and succeeded in securing another 
 specimen of the pintado I have named th Procellaria 
 antarctica, which fell on board between the companion 
 and main-mast to windward (port beam). There was a 
 larger proportion of blue petrel about to-day. Passed a 
 fine, large, white-looking berg, with smooth sides and not 
 a crack in it, looking as fresh as if only just sliced off the 
 barrier. Another long, low berg app(,'ared some distance 
 to leeward. In the evening several large finners passed 
 to leeward, sending up large jets of spray, with a loud 
 spouting noise, the upper surface of their backs alone 
 visible, leaving a track of foam in their wake. Latitude 
 64° 12', longitude 161° 28', thermometer 31°. 
 
 Friday, igt/i. — W^eather overcast and misty, going 
 eight knots and a half before a favouring breeze. I shot 
 three Antarctic petrel, but only succeeded in securing 
 one of them unfortunately, which fell into the stern-boat. 
 Latitude 64° 21' 20", longitude 148° 45'. 
 
 Saturday, 20th. — All last night the ship was sailing 
 
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 Voyaj^c's of Discoioy 
 
 
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 through young ice, at times receiving some heavy thumps 
 from larger pieces, as she ran along the edge of the heavy 
 pack, before an easterly breeze, with studding-sails set, in 
 latitude 65° 10' D.R., longitude 143° 21' D.R. We are 
 now in the longitude of Tasmania. The Antarctic petrel 
 numerous to-day ; I shot four, and succeeded in reclaim- 
 ing three of them, one falling on the weather, and one on 
 the lee side of the deck, and the third into the stern-boat. 
 I sat up during the night skinning five petrel for the 
 ornithological collection. 
 
 Sunday, 2\st. — Weather overcast and gloomy, with 
 snow at noon. Had divisions and divine service. At 
 dinner fresh roast beef, which had been kept for the last 
 three months, and was excellent. 
 
 Tuesday, 23;-</. — Last night, between the hours of ten 
 and midnight, during the first watch, I saw for the first 
 time the aurora australis. It formed an arch extending 
 from north-west to north-east, from which pale yellow or 
 straw-coloured rays shot upwards to the height of some 
 twenty or thirty degrees, converging towards the zenith. 
 It proceeded from a bank of dark clouds (13^ altitude) on 
 starboard side, and to windward. A diffused, pah^ light 
 crested the bank of clouds from which the rays of the 
 aurora shot upwards. The night was beautifully clear, 
 and the stars numerous. Over the starboard quarter to 
 windward the Southern Cross shone conspicuous near 
 the zenith. To-day the weather was overcast and misty, 
 with a fall of snow. A large berg on the port quarter. 
 This evening I again saw the aurora faintly in the south- 
 east quarter. The crow's-nest was taken down this 
 morning ; and during the night we crossed the line of " no 
 variation,'' the dip being 83° 57'. 
 
 Wednesday, 24tth. — Thick weather, with much snow; 
 wind increased to i\ hard gale, ship going before it, and 
 rolling heavily, her decks covered witli sludge from the 
 falling of lumps of snow from the rigging and sails 
 
 
 B- 
 
Brtlliaut Displays of .Aurora Australis. i8- 
 
 aloft. The only birds sct'n were a few blue petrel, a 
 sooty albatross, and a bird with long, pointed wings, 
 skimming the surface of the sea at a distance, like the 
 sheerwater, which in all probability it was. 
 
 Friday, 26th. — This evening I saw the first large 
 albatross {Diontcdia exullns) since we first entered the 
 Antarctic circle, in latitude "^9° 23' 38", longitude 
 .30° 9' 6". 
 
 Saturday, 27///. —During the first watch I saw some 
 brilliant displays of the aurora australis, forming an 
 arch of white light astern, at an altitude of 30°, ex- 
 tending from south-east to north-west, and another 
 arch ahead, like light, white, fleecy clouds, forming an 
 arch of 20°, a faint band of white light extending from 
 the east to the west horizon across the zenith. The 
 ship's head at the time being N. by W. ; latitude 
 58° 2' 7", longitude 128° 40', thermometer 35°, wind 
 E.N.E to W. Weather misty and disagreeable, with 
 sleet and snow. 
 
 Friday, April 2//r/.— This forenoon the first cutter was 
 lowered, in which Captain Ross went away to sound with 
 5000 fathoms of line on the reef, and got bottom in 1540 
 fathoms, in latitude 51° 10' 6", longitude 136° 55' 45''. A 
 cask,containingapaper signed by the captain and ollicers, 
 was thrown overboard. 
 
 Sunday, 41/1. — No divisions or divine service. At 
 6.30 p.m. a heavy sea carried away the lee quarter-boat 
 (second cutter) from the port quarter. Strong breezes 
 and gloomy weather, with muc 1 sea on. Numbers of the 
 small black-backed albatrosses about the ship, with a 
 few D. exulciis and blue petrel. 
 
 Tuesday, 6th. — In latitude 44" o' 32", and longitude 
 145° 57'; thermometer 39°, wind W. ; a beautiful day, mild 
 and genial after the boisterous weather we have expe- 
 rienced on our return from the Antarctic circle, going six 
 and seven knots in smooth water, with all studding-sails 
 
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1 84 
 
 Voyages of Disiovery 
 
 set, low and aloft ; accompanied by numerous albatrosses, 
 both large and small, and the blue petrel. 
 
 In the afternoon the land appeared like two hummocks 
 on the port bow. Night moonlight. At 6.30 p.m. saw 
 Bruin Lighten the port bow, and a lunar rainbow astern, 
 standing up Storm Bay. 
 
^1 
 
 Remarkable black tr;ip dyke, iiUcrscctinjj a lofiy iiioiintain peak. 
 {Hci: pdi^f 178.) 
 
 •CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Summary of our attempt to reach tlie Soutli Polo— Physical features ot 
 the Antarctic continent — Climate — Geology— (leiieral sketch of 
 changes in the earth's surface. 
 
 This our first voyage south, on the meridian of the 
 Aucklands, has been rendered memorable by the discovery 
 of an Antarctic continent, to be added to the terrestrial 
 globe, capping the Pole to a vast extent. The eastern 
 coast of this, on the meridian of New Zealand, we 
 traced from 70° to 79° of latitude, when the great icy 
 barrier, commencing from the terminal cape of Mount 
 Terror, in the longitude of i 70°, extended in a continuous 
 perpendicular wall of ice, varying from 100 to 200 feet 
 and upwards in altitude above the level of the sea for 
 some 250 miles in length, arrested all further progress to 
 the southward. Beyond, and at the back of this stu- 
 pendous glacier, the distant peaks of land were just 
 visible, named the Parry Mountains, after our distinguished 
 chief, Admiral Sir Edward Parry, of Arctic celebrity. This 
 
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 yoyages of Discovery. 
 
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 mighty barrier could not have been less in thickness 
 than 1000 feet, and off which we got soundings in 260 
 fathoms, where the height of the face of it, in latitude 
 78i°, was 168 feet. 
 
 The gulf or bay connecting Mount Erebus with the main- 
 land was .named after the first lieutenant of the Terror, 
 McMurdo Bay, a compliment well deserved by that worthy 
 and meritorious oflicer. An island lying off it and the 
 volcanic mounts was named, after the talented and dis- 
 tinguished hydrographer to the Admiralty, Admiral Sir 
 Francis Beaufort, Beaufort Island; and another island, not 
 quite so far south, was named Franklin Island, after the 
 Governor of Tasmania, Sir John Franklin, whose melan- 
 choly fate in after-years became so painfully associated 
 with the mysterious loss of our old ships the Erebus 
 and Terror in the opposite hemisphere, after having 
 buffeted and escaped the bergs and perils of the 
 Antarctic seas. 
 
 My worthy fellow-boating companion in the explora- 
 tion of Kerguelen's Land, Lieutenant Gerrans Phillips of 
 the Terror, had a cape named after him in latitude 73° 
 S. ; and Captain Ross did me the honour of associating 
 my own name with a striking bold, black promontory, 
 abreast of Possession Island, on which we landed to take 
 possession, in the name of her most gracious Majesty 
 Queen Victoria, of this great southern continent. Cape 
 McCormick, in the latitude of 71° 55' S., and longitude 
 of 170° 58' E., forming the terminal coast-line extremity 
 of the ridge descending from Mount Whewell, situated 
 about midway between the two most remarkable peaks 
 of this magnificent mountain range, Mounts Sabine and 
 Herschell, towering above all ; the former on the north 
 side, having somewhat the shape in outline of the opera- 
 house at the Havana ; and the latter on the south, re- 
 sembling a stupendous crystal of quartz, projecting above 
 the surface of this vast mass of glaciation, to which the 
 
Rise of the Ocean Bed in approaching the Pole. 187 
 
 angles taken gave the height of 7867 feet, and to Mount 
 Sabine an altitude of 8444 feet. The highest summit 
 on first making the land rose to 9096 feet. The extreme 
 height of this grand mountain range, culminating in the 
 two magnificent volcanic peaks, attaining elevations of 
 above 12,000 and 10,000 feet. Mount Erebus, the highest, 
 in a high state of activity, belching forth dense volumes 
 of smoke, at intervals with flame intermingled, from its 
 lofty crater, emerging from a colossal pyramid of eternal 
 ice and snow ; and Mount Terror, now extinct, — were 
 named after the two ships. From the terminal ridge of 
 the latter, the Great Barrier extends in an easterly direc- 
 tion. The remainder of the coast-line received the names 
 of the other officers of the expedition, and the mountains 
 of the inland range those of the ofBcial authorities at 
 the Admiralty and other public and scientific men as far 
 as Cape North, where we first sighted the land 100 miles 
 at least distant. The voyage extending over five months 
 at sea. 
 
 The climate of this Antarctic region of our planet 
 with its vast accumulation or cupola of ice at the pole, 
 keeps the temperature, even in what goes by the name of 
 the summer season here, down 10 the freezing-point of 
 32°, for it rarely ever exceeds this a fraction, on its most 
 congenial days — vividly recalling to the imagination some 
 faint idea of the condition Europe and our own islands 
 must have presented in the remote past, during the great 
 glacial epoch, with the winter in aphelion. 
 
 The soundings in high south latitudes indicate a general 
 rise of the ocean bed, as we approach the southern pole, 
 and the deep azure blue colour of the cracks and fis- 
 sures in the Antarctic ice is due to the blue rays only 
 being reflected, whilst the others are absorbed. The 
 Antarctic bergs differ from the Arctic ones, in their gene- 
 ral formation ; being detached from the outer margin of 
 the barrier, the ice is nmch purer and freer from earthy 
 
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 Voyages of Diicorery. 
 
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 matter than are the Arctic bergs, for the most part 
 formed in deep ravines or fiords along the coast ; con- 
 sequently the greater transparency of the southern ice 
 may give to it the intensity of blue which so distin- 
 guished it from the northern ice. 
 
 It may be worth while here to make a few observa- 
 tions on the changes and vicissitudes of climate which 
 the surface of our earth has undergone since it was first 
 launched into the boundless realms of space, in so far 
 as it may bear upon the eventful history of the successive 
 creations of organic beings, animal and vegetable, which 
 the ever-changing conditions of land and water have 
 brought about and unfolded to us in the strata of the 
 crust of the earth, in which they have been so wonder- 
 fully preserved. 
 
 The glacial epoch, however, was not due to terrestrial 
 changes alone so much as the result of cosmical causes 
 dependent on the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, and 
 the precession of the equinoxes, combined with changes 
 in the obliquity of the ecliptic, and nutation, a small 
 gyratory, nodding, conical movement or oscillation of 
 the earth's axis, a retrograde movement along the eclip- 
 tic from the east to west, and very slow motion of the 
 pole of the heavens among the stars, round the pole of 
 the ecliptic, occupying no less than nearly 26,000 years 
 in completing the tour of the ecliptic ; during which the 
 sun loses one day in the year on the stars, by its direct 
 motion in longitude, and the equinox gains a day during 
 the same period on them by its retrogradation. This, 
 indeed, of late, has been a subject of controversy which 
 I leave to others to settle. 
 
 The pole-star, a star of the second magnitude in 
 the constellation of the lesser bear, is at the present 
 time somewhat more than a degree from the pole, and 
 will continue to approach till within half a degree of it. 
 Its movement through space is not more than one mile 
 
The Precession of the Equinoxes. 
 
 189 
 
 ki 
 
 and a half a second, but at such a vast distance from 
 us that its light takes half a century to reach the earth, 
 whilst that splendid star Vega, the pole-star of the future, 
 next to Sirius, one of the brightest of the first magni- 
 tude stars in the northern hemisphere, moves at the rate 
 of thirteen miles a second, its light taking twenty-one 
 years to reach us. 
 
 The precession of the equinoxes was observed some 
 2000 years ago by Hipparchus, who first compiled a 
 catalogue of the stars. It is brought about by the 
 diurnal motion of the rotation of the earth on its axis, 
 and with which the phenomenon of nutation, a minor 
 movement due to the moon's attraction, is intimately 
 associated. The earth revolves at the rate of 1000 
 miles an hour, and at the same time moves in its orbit 
 through space at the rate of 70,000 miles in the same 
 space of time. Moreover, the friction of the tides would 
 appear to have some influence on this diurnal rotation of 
 our planet. The pole being merely the vanishing-point 
 of the earth's axis, the rcirograde motion of the latter 
 is consequently a conical one. 
 
 The changes of climate from variations in the eccen- 
 tricity of the earth's orbit must have been considerable, 
 deviating as it does from a circular orbit, the sun, 
 whose mean distance from the earth is in round numbers 
 some 92,000,000 miles ; but when the eccentricity is at 
 its superior limit '07775, will be no less than 99,000,000 
 of miles distant, when the earth is in the aphelion of its 
 orbit ; when in perihelion it is only 85,000,000 of miles, 
 so that our planet is really 14,000,000 miles farther from 
 the sun when in the aphelion than in the perihelion of its 
 orbit. The difference between the perihelion and aphe- 
 lion distances of the sun at the present time amounts in 
 round numbers to only 3,000,000 miles. The eccentricity 
 of the earth's orbit, it would appear, has been diminishing 
 for ages past. 
 
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 Although astronomers will not admit that the earth 
 has changed its axis of diurnal rotation as opposed to the 
 known law of a spheroid rotating round its shortest 
 diameter, and that the latitudes would not remain con- 
 stant as they now are, nevertheless it may be movable 
 as regards space, arising from the pole of the heavens 
 opposite the earth's axis describing a circle around the 
 pole of the ecliptic whose obliquity is 23° 28' ; the decrease 
 in the obliquity of the ecliptic amounts to 45' per century 
 only, so almost imperceptibly slow is the movement. 
 Had the earth's axis been perpendicular, instead of being 
 inclined to the plane of its orbit at an angle of 23° 30', 
 the day and night would have been equal all the year 
 round, but this angle not being constant, oscillates to at 
 least a degree and a half. 
 
 The earth is an oblate spheroid whose equatorial cir- 
 cumference is in round numbers 25,000 miles, and the 
 difference between the polar and equatorial diameters is 
 twenty-six miles and a half. The siderial exceeds the 
 tropical year by about twenty minutes. 
 
 Our planet in its path round the sun has in the past 
 doubtless been subjected to extraordinary vicissitudes of 
 temperature, lowever brought about, commencing with 
 its own heated nucleus, changes in its position with 
 reference to thj sun, possible variations in the amount of 
 heat received from the sun itself, from changes in the 
 relative distribution of land and water, together with 
 perhaps irregularities in the temperature of space itself, 
 which has been estimated at 239°, or, according to La 
 Place, 100" below zero. In stating 239° as the tem- 
 perature of space, it must be understood that of stellar 
 space, and not the absolute zero without the heat of the 
 stars, which would be 222° below that of stellar space. 
 
 From the constant low temperature of the sea-bottom, 
 everywhere cold and dark, with a constant temperature 
 under every latitude of about the freezing-point, it would 
 
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 uMm 
 
 ^,^ « 
 
Composition of the Crust of the Earth. 191 
 
 appear to cl('rivc no increase of heat from the earth's 
 interior. Yet it has been found, in descending the 
 deepest mines, the temperature increases in the ratio of 
 one degree for every sixty or seventy feet below the 
 surface, and during the carboniferous epoch it has been 
 supposed that the internal heat of the globe affected its 
 surface so much as to produce a subtropical climate 
 from pole to pole. The thickness of the crust of 
 the earth has been variously estimated, some sup- 
 posing it to be about thirty miles ; and the nature 
 of the nucleus, whether fluid or solid, remains still an 
 open question. All we know is that the lowermost 
 rock in the crust is granite, this passing into gneiss, 
 and above these lies the Laurentian formation, made up 
 of the disintegrated granite and gneiss, syenite being a 
 subsequent eruption to the granite, and differing from it 
 in structure by having the mica replaced by hornblende, 
 and being often found in large spherical masses, resem- 
 bling cannon-balls, remarkable specimens of which I 
 found in New Zealand. 
 
 Above these Plutonic rocks we have the argillaceous 
 schists and sandstones, and the various other sedimentary 
 strata of the limestone and sandstone formations, through 
 which the igneous rocks have been erupted by volcanic 
 action, or upheaved the strata from the original hori- 
 zontal position at various periods. 
 
 The deepest mine does not exceed half a mile in 
 depth, and no boring a mile. The highest mountain 
 on the surface of the globe does not exceed five miles in 
 altitude, and the greatest depth of the ocean does not 
 amount to more than this. Mount Everest, the highest 
 elevation of the Himalaya, reaches, in round numbers, 
 29,000 feet, and the deepest soundings in the Pacific 
 Ocean 4475 fathoms. The deepest depression of the 
 Caspian Sea is 3000 feet, and that of the Dead Sea 1300 
 feet below the ocean. One half of the weight of the 
 
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 Voy (list's of Discovery. 
 
 rocks constituting the earth's crust is oxygen, and the 
 most abundant rock is silica. Chalk is a fine calcareous 
 flour derived from foraminifera and other marine organ- 
 isms, .is are also layers of flint. Mountain-ranges form the 
 crests of the great wave into which the crust of the earth 
 has been upheaved by subterranean agency. 
 
 After these few brief observations on the structure of 
 our planet and its relations to space, a glance at the 
 glacial period or ice age of the post-tertiary or pleisto- 
 cene time, when our own islands and Europe covered 
 with a mantle of ice and snow must have presented a very 
 similar aspect to the Antarctic regions of our own time, 
 may possibly afford some explanation of the problem as 
 to how those fossil remains of both animals and plants 
 have become entombed in such high latitudes, north and 
 south, as Greenland in the one hemisphere, and Kergue- 
 len's Land in the other ; forms, when living, so organized 
 that they could cnly exist in a tropical clime, and their 
 remains found in so perfect a condition, the corals, for 
 instance, that they must have lived and died on the spot 
 where imbedded in the rocks. 
 
 The glacial epoch, as we have seen, has been the 
 sequence of cosmical causes in combination with terres- 
 trial changes brought about by the precession of the 
 equinoxes about every 10,000 years, and alternately in 
 the two hemispheres, that is to say, when one hemisphere 
 is glaciated under a mantle of ice and snow, the other 
 has a warm and temperate climate, and vice vers.f, when 
 the cold has reached the maximum in the one hemisphere 
 the warmth would attain its maximum in the other. 
 When the eccentricity is at its superior limit '07775 and 
 the winter occurring in aphelion, the earth would be in 
 round numbers some 8,000,000 miles farther from the sun 
 than at the present time, with the eccentricity at the 
 inferior limit of "0168 and the distance somewhat above 
 90,000,000 miles, with the winters at present nearly eight 
 
 b 
 
i 
 
 The Glacial Epoch. 
 
 193 
 
 clays shorter than the summers, whilst, with the eccen- 
 tricity at its superior limit, the winter solstice being in 
 aphelion, the winters would then be no less than thirty- 
 six days longer. 
 
 During this remarkable cycle of intense cold there 
 would appear to have been inter-glacial periods or re- 
 current changes of climate, accompanied by oscillations 
 of the sea-level, and consequent submergences and emer- 
 gences of the land, giving rise to the submerged forests 
 and raised beaches, and to which the coal formation 
 owes its origin. 
 
 Thus the warm interglacial periods in the Arctic 
 regions produced the miocene flora of Spitzbergen, Green- 
 land, and North Devon, forming the shores of Barrow 
 Strait and the Wellington Channel, as indicated by their 
 fossil remains of animal and vegetable life that could 
 only have existed in tropical or sub-tropical seas and 
 lands, some 12,000 years in the past perhaps. 
 
 How often and often have I pondered and meditated 
 over those relics of ages long gone by ; corals and other 
 forms of oceanic life, by their organization only adapted 
 to exist in the seas of the tropics, their delicate structures 
 as perfect as when living, which I have myself found 
 embedded in the Arctic table-land limestone formation of 
 North Devon, and the entombed forests of coniferous 
 trees I found in the volcanic land of Kerguelen, in the 
 Antarctic seas, where now not a vestige of arborescent 
 form of vegetation exists. As all these forms have come 
 under my observation, I have wondered how they could 
 ever have existed there ; for whether admitting that the 
 heat derived either from the causes above stated, or from 
 the greater temperature of the crust of the earth not 
 then cooled down to its present condition, yet whatever 
 might be the amount of heat required, and so obtained, 
 still there is this difficulty to encounter, the absence of 
 the sun's light during the six months that orb remains 
 
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 beneath the horizon at the pole in the winter of the 
 Arctic regions. The difficult question which here meets 
 us to answer is, could these dicotyledonous, hardwood 
 forest-trees, found fo?sil in Greenland and Spitzbergen, 
 such as sequoia, salisburia, numerous conifers, besides 
 oaks, maples, beeches, poplars, planes, magnolias, &c., 
 have existed without the sun's rays in a land of dark- 
 ness for one half the year, had the earth's axis been the 
 same then as now ? A problem, I b(;lieve, only to be 
 solved by the admission of some adequate change in the 
 relative position of earth and sun, however brought about. 
 A transference of the ice-cap, or accumulation of ice at 
 the pole from one hemisphere to the other, it has been 
 supposed, might result in a displacement of the earth's 
 centre of gravity. 
 
 During the warm interglacial period of the miocene 
 flora, in mid-tertiary times, was also a period of the maxi- 
 mum of intensity of volcanic action on the crust of our 
 globe. Lyell supposes Dover and Calais were united by 
 an isthmus in miocene times. The concentric rings in 
 the coniferous trees found in the coal mf\nsures would 
 appear to indicate the existence of seasons at that period. 
 Volcanic action in Auvergne broke through the granitic 
 plateau in miocene tim-^s. 
 
 Before bringing to r close this glance at the changes 
 our planet has gone through in the past, a few brief 
 remarks on the effects of denudation on its surface may 
 render this deeply interesting subject more complete. 
 The vast and startling periods of time assigned by most 
 geologists to the silent operations of nature in bringing 
 these changes about, would seem to be founded on rathei 
 questionable calculations ; for from recent observations, 
 both on bone caves and raised beaches, the inference to 
 be drawn is that denudation has gone on far more rapidly 
 than has been generally admitted. With reference to 
 the bone caves, the time required for the deposition of 
 
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 Dlete. 
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 •apidly 
 
 Denudation, raised Beae/ies, Cj'e. 
 
 '95 
 
 llu; travertine, forming the stalagmites and stalactites, 
 from the carbonate of lime held in solution, may be 
 greatly inlluenced by an excess of carbonic acid, in- 
 creasing the dissolving power of the rain-water as it 
 percolates through the limestone, thus accumulating a 
 greater amount of deposition ; and the calculation made 
 from a long S(Ties of observations on the raised beaches 
 of the North American lakes, gives only some 6000 or 
 7000 years for the deposition of all the several beaches, 
 so that thousands may be nearer the mark than the 
 millions of years so often assigned to the operations of 
 nature. 
 
 As these pages were passing through the press, my 
 friend Mr. Carruthers, of the Botanical Department of 
 the British Museum, South Kensington, called my atten- 
 tion to the last number of the Terliarjlora Anstraliens for 
 1883, sent to him, in which Professor Dr. C. von Ettings- 
 hausen had done me the honour to name some fossils, 
 which I found in the Lindisfcrne travertin limestone 
 deposit near Hobart Town, when there in H.M.S. Erebus 
 with the Antarctic Expedition. The willow named after 
 myself, and the cinnamon after Hobart Town, with the 
 third specimen, Echitoninin obscurnm, will be found at the 
 end of the next chapter, from drawings kindly made for 
 me by Mr. Carruthers. 
 
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196 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ■iH 
 
 Quail-sliooting at Risdon — Lindisferne limestone fossils — I.evees — The 
 Erebus and Tlrwr ball — Visiting — The bushranger defeated. 
 
 iVedncsday^ April ']ili, 7.45 r?.;;/.— Beating up above the 
 lighthouse on the Derwe.it, with a strong breeze ; firing 
 several guns for a pilot. About noon Sir John Franklin 
 came in a cutter to meet us, saluting us with three 
 cheers, which we returned off Hobart Town. The squalls 
 were so heavy as to heel the ship over to a considerable 
 angle; and at 3.45 p.m. we let go our anchor off the 
 paddock. 
 
 lliursday, 8t/i. — At seven p.m. I dined at the mess 
 of the 51st, and slept at the barracks. At eleven a.m. 
 I mounted one of the officers' horses and rode out by 
 the new town road to Risdon. A delightful day with a 
 refreshing breeze ; I reached my friend Gregson's at one, 
 and returned on board at six p.m. When at Risdon I 
 found my paroquet alive, and greatly improved in his 
 vocal powers. 
 
 Wediiesdny, 14///. — Mr. Gregson and Captain Forman 
 dined on board with me ; the former remained on board 
 all night. The following morning I met Judge Montagu, 
 just landed from his yacht at the wharf. At seven p.m. 
 I dined at the army mess, meeting Gregson there ; I sat 
 next to the Inspector-General of Hospitals, Dr. Clark, 
 and was called upon for a speech on the toast of the 
 Naval Medical Department being given. 
 
 i ; 
 
 It' 
 
Quail-shootin([ ai Risdon. 
 
 197 
 
 Monday, x^tJi. — I started in Captain Forman's gig- 
 boat for Risdon on a quail-shooting excursion, with two 
 or three others, and accompanied by two dogs. After 
 breakfasting with Mr. Gregson, he accompanied us round 
 his grounds about noon. The first covey of birds was 
 flushed in the stubble-field adjacent to the house ; several 
 shots were fired, but no birds fell; and, as this covey is 
 a pet one of my friend's, his regulations forbid any one 
 firing a second time who had missed his bird. I did 
 not fire myself till we had proceeded for about two miles, 
 when I put up the first bird without the aid of the dogs, 
 and bagged it. The next bird I shot rose to one of the 
 dogs, and Mr. Gregson said it was the largest quail he 
 had ever seen here. On our return to the house by the 
 home-field, I took the shot due to me at the pet covey, 
 and killed my bird to keep as a memento of the pleasant 
 day's sport, and in mercy to my kind host's pets did 
 not avail myself of the second shot I was entitled to 
 from not missing a shot ; so that the covey came off 
 well, losing only one of its mess. The birds were alto- 
 gether only seven brace bagged. Gregson, the best 
 shot of the party, killed two brace. Captain I'^orman one 
 brace. Lieutenant Breton, R.N., one bird. Lieutenant H. 
 three birds ; the fourteenth was a disputed bird. Besides 
 my three quail, I shot two miners for the collection, both 
 on the wing returning. We dined at six p.m., had music 
 and dancing in the evening, and left Risdon at midnight. 
 
 Friday, 23/7/. — Mr. Blackett's yacht, the Albatross, 
 anchored in shore of us, and her owner having been a 
 shipmate of mine in H.M.S. 7V//6' in bygone years, I 
 called on board to see him, and asked him to dine with 
 me on board the Erebus, wh'ch he did on the following 
 Sunday. 
 
 Saturday, lUay isf, — At six p.m. dined at Government 
 House with Sir John Franklin. 
 
 Monday, 3/7/, scvoi p.m. — Went to tlie Ifobart Town 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 Theatre to see the new play got up in honour of the 
 expedition, and called the " Antarctic Expedition." It 
 was but rather indifferently got up, and not much better 
 acted. It was concluded at ten, and the after-piece, the 
 " Robber of the Rhine," commenced at 10.30, and con- 
 cluded about midnight. We had a front box, curtained 
 round, to ourselves. Yesterday I saw my paroquet in 
 Gregson's garden. 
 
 Thursday, 6th. — Dined at Government House with Sir 
 John Franklin at six p.m. ; and on the following day, at 
 8.30 p.m., I went to a large party at Stoke, given by 
 Mrs. Spode, and left at two a.m. 
 
 Thursday, i^^th. — Our ball committee met on board 
 for the purpose of making arrangements and sending 
 out invitation cards to the inhabitants of the vicinity, from 
 whom we had received so much hospitality during our 
 sojourn at this beautiful island. I was elected honorary 
 secretary for the Erebus, and my old friend and boating 
 colleague, Lieutenant Phillips, to the same office for his 
 own ship, the Terror. 
 
 Tuesday, i^th. — At ten a.m. attended the ball com- 
 mittee, and received a specimen of the ornithorhynchus 
 from Macquarie Plains as a present, but unfortunately it 
 died in the transit, and I preserved its skin. 
 
 Thursday, 2oih.~l attended the committee at the 
 Observatory, and lunched there. Went to the Courier 
 office, and saw the paper printed ; and at six p.m. dined 
 at the mess of the 51st regiment with Dr. Clark. 
 
 Friday, 21st. — At 5.30 p.m. I dined at the Rev. Mr. 
 Lillie's, and had music in the evening. To-d^iy both 
 ships were warped in shore alongside of each other in 
 preparation for the ball. 
 
 Sunday, 23/v/. — Divine service ; and a ball-room com- 
 mittee assembled afterwards in Captain Ross's cabin, 
 when I signed some invitations to personal friends, to 
 whom I specially wished to send cards for the ball, wc 
 
Lindisfcrne Travcrihi Liiuestone audits Fossils. 199 
 
 having arranged for a certain number to be specially 
 invited officially, and the surplus cards were divided 
 amongst the officers of both ships, to enable them to pay 
 a compliment to friends from whom they may have 
 individually received attention during their stay. 
 
 Monday, 2^tli. — I went on shore at two p.m., and 
 attended a levee at Government House. It was a very 
 confused, bustling affair, even for such ceremonials, 
 wedging through a narrow doorway between two very small 
 apartments, from the waiting-room to the governor's 
 closet ; and at nine p.m. I attended the governor's ball, and 
 left at 3.40 a.m. On the following day I accompanied the 
 Gregsons to " Fry's School," and to hear the band of the 
 51st regiment, after which we all dined together at their 
 friends, the Crombies, a lawyer of Hobart Town. The 
 next day, at two p.m., I called at Mr. Crombie's, and took 
 the family on board the Seahorse, a beautifully fitted 
 steamer, just arrived from England, to run between 
 Hobart Town and Sydney. 
 
 Friday, 28///. — At eleven a.m. I walked across the 
 paddock to Risdon, which I reached at one, and left at 
 eleven p.m. The evening had been wet, but it afterwards 
 cleared up ; in returning along the new town road I 
 was up to the knees in mud, so bad is the road after rain. 
 Mr. Gregson had not returnea. 
 
 Saturday, 2gtli. — Fine day. Upon the receipt of a 
 note from Risdon, I started at 4.20 p.m. across the 
 paddock ; sky lowering, with threatening black clouds. 
 We dined at six, and retired at midnight. On the 
 following morning, Sunday, 30th, we arose at 8.30 a.m„ 
 and after breakfast Gregson accompanied me to examine 
 a limestone quarry at Lindisferne. Our way lay through 
 some pleasant woods ; and a lovely morning. The lime- 
 stone is of a yellowish or buff colour, a fossil univalve 
 shell occurs in the upper part, beneath which are found 
 trunks and branches of trees, with the impressions of 
 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 leaves. The deposit is perhaps sixty to seventy feet in 
 depth, and apparently a tertiary formation. Gregson 
 dined on board with me in the evening. 
 
 The " Erebus " and " Terror " Bali,. — We have 
 been favoured by a fine evening for our ball, which com- 
 menced at eight p.m., on Tuesday, the ist of June. The 
 approach to the ships was through a canvas-covered 
 way, forming an arcade, lined with flags intermingled with 
 branches of the " wattle," in its full yellow bloom, and 
 other plants, the whole supported on a bridge of boats, 
 and of sufficient breadth for two persons to walk abreast 
 along it. A lamp-post was placed on each side of the 
 entrance, so ornamented with native plants, as to resemble 
 the mouth of a grotto, between which and the road 
 through the paddock Sir John Franklin had got con- 
 structed a branch road, to enable the carriages to pass 
 down the hill to the very entrance of this tunnel-like 
 approach to the ball-room, which was formed by the upper 
 deck of the Erebus, the innermost ship, whilst the Terror, 
 outside of us, secured head and stern, with a bridge con- 
 necting the gangway, was allotted for -the supper-table. 
 
 Our ball-room was covered in by a canvas awning, 
 lined throughout with flags, and decorated with the 
 various native plants, branches of the beautiful orange- 
 ytilow wattle, ferns, &c. The band of the 51st 
 Regiment occupied an orchestra, covered v;ith dark 
 cloth rising to some feet above the deck, and orna- 
 mented with shrubs and flowers, in front of which 
 was suspended a portrait of our Queen, encircled 
 in a garland of flowers. Just a^aft the main-mast rose 
 a second orchestra, for the Hoba Town quadrille band, 
 in the midst of a labyrinth of foliage. The capstan, 
 also, supported a pile of Flora's productions, and in the 
 centre of the flags, forming a screen between the fore- 
 castle and the waist (where lemonade was served as a 
 refreshment to the dancers) was a floral device, repre- 
 
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 a- 
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 "Bredus " and " Terror" Ball. 
 
 201 
 
 senting the letters "V.R." The tops of the sky-lights 
 were converted into ottomans covered with flags, and 
 benches covered with scarlet cloth were ranged all round 
 the sides of the ship, as seats for those not engaged in 
 the dance. The whole was brilliantly lighted up by 
 chandeliers obtained from the shore, and with lamps 
 placed at intervals around the sides, the effect of which 
 was very much heightened from the approach by the 
 tunnel having been barely lighted sufficiently to enable 
 the guests to find their way, so that, after wending along 
 a gloomy, narrow passage for some sixty or seventy yards, 
 a flood of light all at once burst upon them on stepping 
 from the gangway upon the quarter-deck, and here the 
 captains and officers were standing to receive their guests. 
 
 Captain Ross's cabin and the gun-room of the Erebus 
 were assigned as dressing-rooms for the ladies, and 
 were supplied with mirrors and most of the etceteras of 
 a lady's toilet, down to hair-pins, eau-de-Cologne, and 
 other perfumes. The descent to the lower deck was by 
 the main hatchway, the steps covered with red baize, 
 having a circular awning of flags decorated with flowers 
 of the wattle, and rosettes made of bunting by the sailors. 
 The ring-bolts had been removed from the decks, and 
 everything that could possibly leave more space. 
 
 The governor, Sir John Franklin, and his suite arrived 
 soon after eight p.m., and by nine o'clock the deck 
 presented a very gay and animated scene, upwards of 300 
 guests must have been present during the evening. Each 
 ofiicer being a steward, and having the option of inviting 
 ten personal friends, was well able to secure attention to 
 all, and the more especially as each had a station 
 m in charsfe of a division at th( 
 
 isignec 
 
 ipper- 
 
 for which lots had been drawn, as the most equitable plan 
 to avoid all partiality. I was very fortunate in this lottery, 
 for, had the choice been offered me, I should most un- 
 hesitatingly have selected the one which fell to my lot. It 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 was the small table over the gun-room companion, just 
 abaft the main-mast, with the capstan immediately behind 
 me ; a snug, isolated berth, with just sufficient room to 
 accommodate my own little party of seven, consisting of 
 my friend Mr. Gregson, Mrs. Gregson, and Miss Gregson, 
 Dr. Clark, the Inspector-General of Hospitals, Mr. 
 Crombie, the lawyer, and two other friends of theirs. 
 Supper was served at eleven p.m., and after some 
 squeezing and pressure in the passage, through the 
 narrow gangway between the Erebus and Terror, all 
 found their seats at the table, the governor and his suite, 
 with the two captains, occupying the after-part of the 
 quarter-deck table, which was terminated by a small table 
 athwart-ships for that purpose. 
 
 As usual on such occasions many toasts were drunk, 
 and speeches perpetrated, accompanied by loud cheering 
 and emptying of wine-glasses. McMurdo, the senior 
 lieutenant of the Terror, with whom rested the arrange- 
 ment of the supper-table, had, with his customary good 
 taste, left nothing to be desired in its decoration, and 
 certainly threw us in the Erebus into the shade, the 
 difference being just in the same degree as existed in the 
 minds of the two senior lieutenants themselves, with 
 whom these preparations rested. The sides were lined 
 with black and scarlet cloth, having candles placed at 
 intervals backed by mirrors, for which purpose the looking- 
 glasses intended as presents to the natives of any lands 
 we might visit were taken from their frames, small 
 bouquets were attached to these, and the effect was very 
 pleasing. The chandeliers were tastefully formed of 
 bright steel bayonets, which had a far more ship-shape 
 appearance than our hired commonplace glass ones from 
 the shore. The productions of Flora were most tastefully 
 arranged in small bouquets variously grouped. The 
 supper-tables bore on them poultry, dressed in various 
 ways, pies, pastries, cakes, and jellies, with fruits ; of 
 
A Kangaroo Hunt. 
 
 203 
 
 wines, port, sherry, and hock, and an abundance of cham- 
 pagne. On returning to the ball-room dancing continued 
 until daylight My friends the Gregsons, who had 
 arrived at nine p.m., I escorted to their carriage at the 
 paddock at four a.m. The whole affair passed off well, 
 every one seemed highly gratified with their entertain- 
 ment, and even the elements were propitious, as our 
 guests had a fine evening for their arrival, and a morning 
 not less so for their departure. 
 
 The Erebus and Terror Ball will doubtless long be 
 remembered by the Tasmanians as a memorable event in 
 the history of their very beautiful island ; and most 
 assuredly the boundless hospitality which every member 
 of the expedition received at their hands will be as long 
 remembered on their part as a no less interesting epoch in 
 their own wandering lives. 
 
 The decks of the old ice-and-weather-beaten ships 
 never before responded to the elastic step of so much 
 female loveliness and beauty, as this small island of the 
 Antipodes mustered on the occasion ; and at that division 
 of the supper-table over which as a steward I presided, it 
 fell to my lot to have the honour of having seated next 
 myself at table the " belle" of the island. Miss Elizabeth 
 Gregson, of Risdon, a beautiful and accomplished girl 
 of eighteen, who, with her father and mother (as already 
 stated) and a mutual friend or two, constituted the small 
 group at my table. 
 
 Friday^ \tJi. — Captain Forman's boat took me to 
 Risdon for a kangaroo hunt on Grass Tree Hill ; Mr. 
 Gregson with his fine pack of hounds, and we with our 
 guns. Not a very successful kangaroo chase, as the 
 dogs having started one, took to the hill and got over 
 it. I shot a guinea-fowl on the grounds of my friend's 
 house, and a ground thrush. We dined at six p.m., 
 and on the following morning, Saturday the 5th, after 
 breakfast, I strolled round the grounds with my host's 
 
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204 
 
 Voyaii'cs of Discovery. 
 
 children, and shot an island crow, a thrush, and four 
 paroquets. Dined at six p.m., and it being a moonlight 
 evening, my friend's eldest son accompanied me to the 
 bottom of the hill to shoot opossums, but we were not 
 successful in meeting with any. 
 
 Moiiihiy, ']t/i.—Ahcv breakfast I started for Hobart 
 Town accompanied by Gregson, and at six p.m. we both 
 dined on board the Terror^ my friend remaining on board 
 for the night. 
 
 Friday, 18///. — Rainy day. After breakfast I set 
 some of the Kerguelen Land cabbage seed in my 
 friend's garden, and started on my return to the ship at 
 2.15 p.m., and at 6.30 p.m. dined at the mess of the 
 51st, and left at eleven p.m. Sir John Franklin was 
 present, with Captain Ross. Thirty-three in all sat 
 down to table, and Captain For man called upon me for a 
 speech on the occasion. 
 
 Saturday, \gtli. — I called on Ladv Franklin, who had 
 been absent on an excursion to New Zealand, and only 
 returned to-day in H.M.S. Favourite, of eighteen guns. 
 
 Sunday, 2-itli. — Fine day, with a fresh breeze. After 
 divisions I started for Risdon. Dined at Gregson's at 
 three p.m., where I met old Major de Gillan, a Penin- 
 sular officer. Had sacred music in the evening, and the 
 house being full of guests, I slept on the sofa in the parlour. 
 
 Monday, 28///. — After breakfast I walked with the 
 young ladies down to the creek, and whilst crossing it in 
 their boat one of the party, in her over-haste to get out 
 of the boat on its reaching the opposite bank, was very 
 near going overboard, and certainly would not have 
 escaped a cold bath but for the presence of mind and 
 promptitude of her young friend, Miss Elizabeth Gregson, 
 who, relieving me at the oar, kept the boat steady, 
 whilst I sprang to the rescue of her friend. After this 
 little adventure we walked on to the ferry, and looked 
 over the new house in the course of construction there 
 
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Excursion to Major dc GillatCs, near Ricluiwnd. 205 
 
 for Mr. Gregson. On our return to the house, after 
 joining the family at lunch, I started at four p.m. for the 
 ship, accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Gell, who subse- 
 quently married Miss Franklin. 
 
 lliursdny, July \sf, 10.30 a.m. — Walked to Risdon, 
 and at three p.m. drove in Gregson's carriage to Major 
 de Gillan's, and reached his picturesque cottage residence 
 at 4.15 p.m., where I dined, and started on my return at 
 6.45 p.m. It is situated about a mile from the Richmond 
 Road, and approached by a winding avenue. Many 
 birds were flying about the trees, especially paroquets, 
 and large flocks of sheep grazing. Reached Risdon at 
 eight p.m. A fine moonlight night, and keen air. Found 
 my friend Gregson but just returned from Hobart Town. 
 It proved very fortunate in the sequel, that I was 
 induced to remain under my friend's roof for the night, 
 as it was in all probability the means of saving my host's 
 highly valued old family plate. I slept in the room 
 usually allotted me in my many visits here, which is 
 situated on the ground-floor in the opposite wing of the 
 building to the one in which the family have their sleep- 
 ing-apartments. The windows opened upon a veranda 
 outside, under which the carriage stands. About five 
 o'clock in the morning I was suddenly aroused from a 
 sound sleep by a harsh grating sound, which I at first 
 thought arose from the grating of the door on the 
 hinges, by the servants opening it to remove my boots. 
 But on glancing in the direction of the window, on the 
 left side of the bed, I discovered that it was half open, 
 and the burly figure of a man in a blouse outside, 
 shadowed in strong relief upon the white window-blind. 
 Although barely awake from that heavy sleep induced 
 by weariness and over- physical exertion, it at once 
 occurred to me that this nocturnal visitor could be no 
 other than one of those bushrangers at that time by no 
 means an extinct race in the colony, and who by some 
 
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 Voyages of DisfiKrry 
 
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 means or diIkt had ascertained that this identical room 
 was the depository of my friend's chest of plate. 
 
 Anxious to secure the marauder, I remained still and 
 quiet to watch his movements, fully expecting that he 
 would get in through the open window, when I was on the 
 alert to seize him before he could get a footing on the 
 floor inside. However, on his attention being for the 
 moment arrested in his effort io raise the sash higher, 
 and which did not readily yield, I seized the interval to 
 slip out of bed and grope for the boot-jack at my bedside, 
 the only available weapon at hand. This movement of 
 mine, quietly as it was made, caught his ear, for he 
 suddenly withdrew the half of his body, already within 
 the window, and retreated. I quickly followed him out 
 of the window in my night-dress, head foremost on the 
 pavement outside, and grasped the iron-shod cross-piece 
 of the carriage trace, the nearest thing at hand. Thus 
 armed, I gave chase to the fugitive, pointing it at him, 
 and threatening to shoot him unless he at once hove-to ; 
 but, supposing it to be a gun, this idle threat only appa- 
 rently accelerated his speed, and after a fruitless search 
 round the garden and lawn, I, in returning, examined all 
 the doors by walking round the house and trying them ; 
 and, finding them all secure, I again turned in, and 
 rested undisturbed till morning. 
 
 At breakfast I made no allusion to the incident of the 
 early morning, for fear of alarming the female part of the 
 family ; but Mrs. Gregson pointedly asked me if I was 
 not disturbed by noises about the house in the night, 
 and moreover said that she had found one of the latches 
 of the doors raised this morning. Mr. Gregson himself 
 seemed much surprised, and said that during the many 
 years he had resided here he had never had any attempt 
 made upon his house before. 
 
 After breakfast was over I took him to my bedroom, 
 where his own eyes convinced him that such at least was 
 

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Li ndisf erne Fossils from Travertin Limestone Deposit. 207 
 
 the case last night ; for the large screw, the old-fashioned 
 way of fastening the window, had been forced through 
 the wooden frame, fracturing it ; and this was the noise 
 which awakened nie. Mr. Gregson's eldest son John then 
 recalled to mind that he had observed a very suspicious- 
 looking character, resembling a bushranger in appearance, 
 lurking about the premises on the preceding day, and 
 speaking to some of their own workmen. 
 
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 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
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 Leave for Sydney — Visits — Trip to Paramatta — New Zealand- 
 Description — Visit to the chief Pomare — His farm. 
 
 Tuesday, 6tli. — Did not sail as was intended. Day re- 
 markably fine. Walking out to Risdon, I met my friend 
 Gregson at the Ferry. Lunched with the family, as did 
 Dr. Hooker, who arrived after me ; started on return at 
 3.40 p.m. Gregson, with Mr. Crombie and the new 
 Surveyor-General, Mr. Power, took a farewell dinner 
 with me on board. Lieutenant Kay, of the Terror, was 
 the bearer of a book from Lady Franklin as a parting 
 present to myself. 
 
 Wednesday, July "]th. — Weighed anchor at 6.30 a.m., 
 and at 6.45 a.m. Sir John Franklin and suite came on 
 board from a brig. Manned yards and cheered him, 
 which was returned. Gregson slept on board last night, 
 and breakfasted with Captain Ross, and Sir John 
 
Arrival at Sydney. 
 
 209 
 
 Franklin this morning. At 10.30 a.m. the governor 
 took his farewell leave of us in Storm Bay, with a mutual 
 exchange of cheers. My old friend Gregson left at 
 11.10 a.m., and joined the governor in the brig. She 
 bore down and cheered the Terror, and in passing us 
 did the same. We had fine weather and a fair wind 
 round Cape Pillar, but afterwards foul. The night was 
 very fine. We had Lieutenants Otway and Carey, of 
 the 51st, passengers with us to Sydney; and Captain 
 Forman in the Terror. We were a week on the passage. 
 Anchoring off Garden Island at 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 
 14th. The health-oflficer, Arthur Savage, Surgeon, R.N., 
 came on board. We passed the entrance to the notorious 
 Botany Bay, having a forbidding aspect ; a heavy surf 
 breaking over the reef at its entrance. Barren-looking 
 cliffs of horizontal sandstone, interspersed with low sand- 
 hills and sandy beaches. A heavy surf also breaks 
 over a reef on the starboard side of the entrance to 
 Port Jackson. The lighthouse and signal-station with 
 a flag-staff apper..b on a promontory about 300 feet in 
 height. On pr -.sing the entrance, which is about a mile 
 in width, and turning sharply to the left, a noble bay 
 opens, or rather an arm of the sea. The town of Sydney, 
 the masts of the shipping, with the picturesque village 
 of Wooloomooloo, appear at the head of it, five or six 
 miles up. The surrounding hills are low and scrubby- 
 looking. 
 
 Thursday, i^th. — I landed at Sydney for the first time 
 at the government jetty. Wrote my name in the 
 governor's visiting-book, and paid a visit to the club, 
 where I met Captain King, R.N. Walked through the 
 town to the race-course, returning across the government 
 domain to the rocks called Lady Macquarie's Chair, and 
 got on board at five p.m. 
 
 Sunday, i8f/t. — Fine day, but the last two or three 
 days heavy rain, with thunder and lightning. I attended 
 
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 I'ovcigcs of Discovery. 
 
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 morning service at St. James's Cathedral ; Bishop Brough- 
 ton preached the sermon. Walked to Wooloomooloo, 
 afterwards called on Dr. Savage. On the following day 
 I met another brother-officer, Thomas Bell, at the club, 
 he had been out w'ith Parry in one of his earlier voyages 
 to the north, and was now a settler out here. 
 
 Tuesday^ loth. — Fine day ; went on shore and visited 
 the Botanical Garden. On the following day heavy 
 rain ; when I dined with Captain Ross to meet Dr. Bell, 
 Captain King, Mr. McLcay, and Captain Crozier. 
 
 Sunday, August \st. — Paid a visit to the Roman 
 Catholic Chapel, service from eleven to one ; being high- 
 mass day, it was very fully attended. There were no 
 pews, we were seated on a bench, about the third or 
 fourth from the altar, a highly ornamented structure, 
 with the steps and platform richly covered with carpet- 
 ing and scarlet cloth. Twelve tapers burning, the windows 
 of richly-coloured glass. Seven priests officiated at the 
 altar, and the chief priest was distinguished from the rest 
 by the richness of the embroidery on his robes. I visited 
 tie cemetery afterwards, and called in Jamaica Street, on 
 an old brother officer, Sir John Jameson, a retired phy- 
 sician of the fleet, whom I had never before met. He 
 invited me to dine with him on the following day, at 
 6.30 p.m., when fourteen in all, including some naval and 
 military, officers sat auwn to table. Cards, singing, and 
 music followed, and I left at 1 2.30. Old Sir John, on 
 whom ihe marks of age were becoming but too plainly 
 visible, told me that he knew my father, when he was 
 surgeon of H.M.S. Defence, with the Baltic fleet in the 
 year 181 1, and endeavoured to dissuade him from return- 
 ing home in her with the crippled ship St. George, of 
 ninety-eight guns, in company ; as he said that from 
 his own position as physician to the Baltic fleet, it was 
 in his power to have effected an exchange for him into 
 some other ship, but that he could not be induced 
 
on 
 
 Excursion up the River to Paramatta. 
 
 1 1 
 
 to leave his own ship, and consequently perished with 
 her. 
 
 Tuesday, 3/7/. — After calling on Sir John Jameson, I 
 dined with the governor. Sir George Gipps, at seven 
 p.m. Twenty-three sat down to table at Government 
 House ; Captains Ross and Crozier pre nt. . Left at 
 eleven p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, \th. — At nine a.m. started from the wharf 
 in the steamer, on an excursion to Paramatta. In pass- 
 ing up this narrow arm of the bay or river, a number of 
 small bays or coves follow in quick succession on either 
 side ; beyond Kissing Point, about nine miles up, we 
 passed some fine orange and lemon plantations, the trees 
 weighed down with their golden fruit. 
 
 We reached Paramatta at 11.40 a.m., situated on a 
 plain about a mile distant from the wharf, and through 
 it the main road to Windsor in the interior passes. 
 Passed a timber waggon drawn by twelve oxen. W^e 
 visited the penitentiary, containing some 900 women 
 and 400 girls and boys, employed chiefly as laundresses 
 and needlewomen. At one p.m., on returning to the 
 town, wc lunched at the " Red Cow," a very pretty and 
 quite rural-looking little inn, embosomed in trees and 
 flowers, having a verandah hung round with cages, con- 
 taining parrots and canaries. In the garden in front was 
 a curlew, and the majestic-looking " native companion," 
 or gigantic crane of the country, with its ash-coloured 
 plumage and reddish head. Returned by the same 
 steamer at four p.m., but did not reach Sydney until 
 some time after dark, landing at 6.45 p.m. 
 
 Thursday, ^th. — Capt.tin Sullivan, appoint(Kl to the 
 Favourite from India, arrived last niglit, and takes a 
 passage with us to join his ship at New Zealand. At 
 11.15 '^•"^' '^^c sailed with a fresh breeze and fine weather, 
 but afterwards stormy, with rain and foul winds. 
 
 Monday, \6tJi. — Mainland in sight; and during the 
 
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212 
 
 Voyages of Discovery, 
 
 H\ 
 
 4 1 
 
 first watch last night we were off Cape Maria, Van Die- 
 man. To-day we weathered the North Cape, two miles 
 distant, 
 
 Tuesday y \^th. — Beating up for the Bay of Islands, 
 and on the following day at nine a.m. we were off the 
 hay. 
 
 There are two rocks on the starboard side, the outer 
 one called Tiki-Tiki, with Cape Brett on the port side of 
 the entrance, and somewhat less than two miles up the 
 bay on the right, we passed the entrance to the Kiddi- 
 Kiddi, or Gravelly-Gravelly, from the nature of its bottom. 
 The New Zealanders, or Maoris, have a habit of repeat- 
 ing many of their proper names in duplex. Lying off it 
 is the island of Motouroa, with several rocks ; three or 
 four miles still higher up is the Waitangui River, on the 
 same side, and meaning in the Maori language, the 
 " Crying, or Weeping Waters," from a waterfall in its 
 course. Between the two streams is a low black ledge 
 of lava, intervening between the argillaceous cliffs of 
 which the shores of the bay are chiefly constituted. A 
 broken-down, crater-shaped hill, but a short distance in- 
 land, sufficiently explains the source from whence this 
 lava currei las flowed at some period or other. At the 
 entrance to the Waitangui lies the small island of 
 Motoumane. 
 
 On the opposite or left side of the Iiay of Islands is 
 Paroa Bay, the scene of the murder of tlie French Cap- 
 tain Marion by thr natives, separated only from Korora- 
 riki by a narrow peninsula a quarter of a mile across ; and 
 just round Point Wayhilii, skirting a small bay with a 
 shingly beach, is situated the settlement of Kororarlka 
 itself; in the native language — always euphonious — 
 termed the valley or bay of Sweet Penguins , consisting 
 of some score of houses, chiefly stores, ranged in a line 
 along the beach, with perhaps double that number 
 scattered about in a straggling manner at the back. 
 
 
At Anchor in the Kava-Kava. 
 
 213 
 
 The native pah occupies the centre of the beach, formed 
 of a few low huts, in the centre of which is the chief's, 
 the whole being enclosed within a fence of stakes twelve 
 feet and upwards in height. Above this is the new 
 church, and to the right of it the Roman Catholic 
 rhapel ; the signal-station crowns the hill above the 
 town. 
 
 Nearly opposite to Kororarika, on the right side of the 
 Bay of Islands from the entrance, which is here about 
 two miles wide, is the missionary station of Paihia, or 
 Paheha, the residence of the Rev. Mr. Williams, the 
 head of the Mission, and formerly a lieutenant in the 
 Royal Navy. The station consists of three or four good 
 houses, having pretty flower-gardens in front, and skirted 
 by a fine, white, sandy beach, in front of which lies the 
 small island of Moutou Rangui, covered with trees, and 
 situated seven miles up the bay. Just above Kororarika 
 a deep cove runs up, called Kiddi Cove, terminated by a 
 rock, Torre-Torre, connected with the mainland by a 
 narrow neck, which is dry at low water, but may be 
 crossed over in a boat at flood-tide. 
 
 At 10.30 a.m. we anchored in the Kava-Kava, or Bitter- 
 Bitter, about two miles above Kororarika, and nine 
 miles from the entrance to the bay opposite Tavumay 
 beach, a sandy flat on the right, backed by a mangrove 
 swamp, through which a creek or narrow river runs. 
 This is said to be the spot where Marion was eaten by 
 the cannibals, after murdering him in Faroa Bay. 
 
 About two miles above our anchorage, Pomare's (the 
 chief of the Bay of Islands) pah appeared, cresting 
 a hill or ridge, where the Kava-Kava gives off the 
 Waikadi branch to the left. On the left side of the 
 bay, nearly midway between us and Pomare's paii, is 
 Russelton, on which is situated tlie prettiest house in the 
 bay, in which Captain Hobson, the governor, lived when 
 here. The barracks is built on the point. We found 
 
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 214 
 
 Vcyogcs of Discovery. 
 
 the American corvette Yorktoivn, with a whaler and 
 several small vessels at anchor off Kororarika. The 
 weather was so thick, blowing hard, coming in sudden 
 squalls and violent gusts, as to obscure the distant hills, 
 the rain falling heavily. 
 
 Monday, 2yd. — I landed this morning for the first 
 time at Pahia, in Captain Ross's galley, accompanied by 
 Captain Sullivan. The day was fine ; saw a native chief, 
 and called at Colenso's printing-office ; walked over the 
 hills at the back of Pahia, which are clothed with what 
 is here called the tea-scrub, a fragrant, aromatic plant, 
 bearing a pretty white bloom. Returned on board at one; 
 found that Mr. Williams had been on board during my 
 absence. In the afternoon I again landed by the Obser- 
 vatory, on Tavumay Beach, and shot two of the tui or 
 parson bird, a beautiful bird, about the size of our 
 starling having a plumage displaying the same metallic 
 lustre and of the same species as I met with at the 
 Auckland Islands; I also shot a small dark w'arbler ; 
 returning on board at five p.m. 
 
 Tuesday, 2\tJi. — Landed at eleven a.m. at the Obser- 
 vatory ; weather overcast with drizzling rain. I strolled 
 along the beach to Pahia to call on Mr. Williams ; I 
 found him at home. He is a fine, dignified-looking man, 
 inclined to be stout, with the frank, independent manner 
 of the ex-naval officer. I was much pleased with him, 
 and we had a long conversation about the land of his 
 adoption ; he told me that he had crossed New Zealand 
 from Port Nicholson to the Bay of Islands, through the 
 then unknown interior, in two months ; he saw the central 
 volcano with the hot springs and lakes, one thirty miles 
 across, containing fish; and also a river; some of the 
 highest hills were covered with perpetual snow. He had 
 to cross a desert in the interior, which alone occupied 
 him a week, and he had to carry his provisions for this 
 time. He met with several species of birds unknown in 
 
Visii to /'o;ujrJ's Pah. 
 
 21 
 
 the parts of the island hitherto visited. The rapidity 
 with which the general diffusion of the Scriptures 
 had taken place throughout the various tribes in the 
 interior, he states as most remarkable, and effected 
 entirely by converted natives from the Bay of Islands. 
 Native Prayer Books were general amongst them ; and, 
 as a substitute for the church bell, they jingled together 
 pieces of metal at their meetings for public worship. 
 
 Auckland, the capital, it appears contains the best 
 land in its vicinity. Port Nicholson is subject to much 
 blowing weather and sudden and heavy squalls. The 
 Cowdie Pine is limited to me northern portion of the 
 island ; the southern island he states to be mountainous, 
 and but sparsely inhabited. On White Island there is 
 an active volcano. He showed me his track chart across 
 the island, with the ridges of mountains running parallel 
 S.W. and N.Ii. 
 
 Just before I left him, the widow of a chief came into 
 the room—a well-mannered and very decently-dressed 
 woman. The weather clearing up, I returned along the 
 beach, shot a kingfisher, crossed the Observatory River, 
 up the Mangrove Creek, and over the inland hills, along 
 the native paths which Intersect and wind round them in 
 every direction, concealed in the distance by the thickets 
 of tea-scrub which overhangs them. Returning by the 
 river, I got on board at five p.m. to dinner. Mr. Williams 
 was a lieutenant of the Endyinion frigate when she 
 captured the American frigate President. 
 
 Wednesday, 2^th. — The tide surveyor called alongside 
 in his boat, for me to go with him to see Pomare's pah 
 at ten a.m. W^e landed on a small shingly and sandy 
 beach, flanked on the right by two gin-slioj)s, eliielly 
 frequented by the whalers, and called the " Sailor's 
 Return" and the " Eagle Inn," having the shutters and 
 verandah painted green. A narrow path, with three or 
 four peach-trees in their pink bloom, led up the face of 
 
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 Voyngcs of Discovery. 
 
 the hill to the pah. The huts of the natives commenced 
 at the summit of the hill, and were scattered down the 
 opposite side in divisions, separated by fences of stakes, 
 amounting perhaps to fifty or sixty in all, each very low, 
 with doors just high enough to crawl in at on hands and 
 knees. The chief Pomare's hut was situated at the 
 bottom of the hill, only just above the beach, forming 
 one of three placed in a row. 
 
 Pomar^ himself was absent, planting potatoes at his 
 farm, about six or seven miles up the River Kurrito. 
 His hut was more ornamented than the rest ; but this 
 was the chief difference. The door was higher, being 
 nearly five feet in height by two feet in width, sur- 
 mounted by a red carved board and a group of dark 
 feathers. The door was also red, and latched with 
 only a bit of cord. On the left side was a small square 
 wicket or window, having a shutter of the same colour, 
 and over it was suspended a French coloured print, 
 " L'Hiver." The roof was formed by two boards, meet- 
 ing at an angle, having a porch in front, surmounted 
 by two carved figures, a male and female. A plank 
 across the basement formed the threshold. The whole 
 structure was thatched with reeds, those on the inside 
 of the porch were crossed by red and yellow bands, 
 and the plank of the ceiling wreathed red and white. 
 
 On entering the interior a carved image presents itself 
 in the centre of the floor, on which some scattered 
 embers, the ashes of the last fire, remained. On either 
 side were the sleeping-places, simply portions of the bare 
 ground floor parted off by narrow ledges of wood. The 
 only furniture consisted of an old black and yellow, long- 
 fibred mat, an old musket, pair of canoe paddles, and a 
 spear. Near the hut is a storehouse, elevated on posts 
 from the ground. The whole pah and huts are encircled 
 by a railing of stakes, irregular in height, ten to twelve 
 feet high, and bound together with grass, a signal-staff 
 
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 In-ivalof II.M.S. " Faronriur 
 
 crowning the hill. The only natives we saw were an old 
 Rangitera — the te^m here for the rank of gentleman — 
 coming next to the chief, his wife and daughter, an old 
 woman, and a few children, the tribe being absent with 
 their chief. We embarked again at noon, landed at 
 Russellon, and again at the American Cousul's wharf 
 on the Kororarika side of the bay, a little below the 
 anchorage of the ships, calling at a pretty cottage and 
 garden of an old resident. Started again at 1.30 p.m. 
 Made sail on the whale-boat, which, carrying a very large 
 lug-sail, as much as she could well stand under without a 
 reef in the strong breeze, and sudden violent squalls that 
 often struck her, with her lee gunwale a-wash with the 
 sea, I all but anticipated a capsize, and was not sorry, 
 though no novice in boating, when we at last effected a 
 landing at Kororarika. Ten minutes had scarcely 
 elapsed when I saw from the Custom House one of the 
 native canoes upset in the surf opposite, during one of 
 those heavy gusts of wind accompanied by rain. Paid a 
 visit to the pah here ; but old Rivers, the native chief, 
 was absent. It was enclosed with the usual stakes, ten 
 to twelve feet high. I rambled over the hill to Paroa 
 Bay, and started on our return at 4.15 p.m., sailing a 
 portion of the way, and reached the ship at five p.m. 
 
 Thursday, September 2nd. — H.M.S. Favourite arrived 
 in the bay. Went on board. 
 
 Tuesday, ']th. — At 9.40 a.m. I left the ship in the gig 
 for Pomare's farm, up the Kurrito River. Blowing a gale, 
 and threatening rain. On our way, calling at the " Sailor's 
 Return," wc met Pomare's general, or fighting-man, as 
 he is termed ; a stout, resolute-looking fellow, much 
 tattoed, which added a fierceness to his expression. The 
 banks of the Kurrito, the left branch of the Kava-Kava 
 riv( r, are low, flat, and muddy ; in places very shallow. 
 We had the flood-tide up and the ebb down ; the 
 stream narrowing as we ascended. On the right a 
 
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 K<3y.7^t?5 <y Discovery 
 
 succession of mangrove swamps, mingled with rushes, 
 ferns, and abundance of flax, growing luxuriantly in the 
 low and swampy underwood and rushes. Beyond the 
 low banks of the stream appeared a receding range of 
 hills of moderate height, having a smooth, undulating 
 outline, clad with short fern. On the left bank the 
 argillaceous hills are clothed with dense woods of lofty 
 trees and underwood, sloping down to the banks of the 
 river. As we approached Pomares village the river 
 became so narrow, as it winds through flax and rushes, 
 that we were compelled to shorten in the oars to get 
 the boat along, the stream being only the boat's length 
 across. 
 
 We landed soon after noon, amid heavy rain, at the 
 village, consisting of about a score of huts, scattered up 
 the sides of the sloping bank. On reaching the first l.ut 
 we found Pomar^ himself squatted on his hams in the 
 customary native mode in the outside porch. He was 
 smoking his pip*^. and enveloped in the folds of a blanket 
 of a light-blue colour, which doubtless had been dyed to 
 suit the taste of the wearer. Under this appeared a red 
 guernsey-frock ; his feet were bare, a green jade earring 
 was suspended from one ear. His aspect is that of a 
 tall, powerful man, about six feet in height, and appa- 
 rently between thirty and forty years of age ; but from 
 his being much tattooed, and, like the rest of his country- 
 men, his head covered with a profusion of coarse, bushy, 
 jet-black hair, renders it a somewhat difficult matter in 
 judging of the age of a New Zealander. He received us 
 in the cold, calm, taciturn manner natural to these 
 savages on a first introduction. Without rising from the 
 posture in which we found him, he simply made a sign 
 with his hand for us to come under the porch of his hut 
 out of the rain, at the same time shaking hands with 
 each of us, a ceremony rarely omitted by these people. 
 Seated on his left was his wife, seeming to be about his 
 
Visit to Pcviard at /lis Farm up the Kurrito River. 1 19 
 
 own age. She had long, black hair, lips tattooed of a 
 blue colour, and wearing earrings of blue stone, round in 
 shape. She was dressed in an old blue gown, over 
 which was thrown the native mat of light- coloured flax ; 
 she also was smoking her pipe, and at the same time 
 suckling her infant, about two months old. 
 
 The favourite daughter was a very lively-looking girl, 
 about eleven or twelve years of age, with jet-black eyes, 
 and hair as black, worn short, a shark's tooth and red 
 sealing-wax suspended from one ear ; her dress an old 
 print frock, with a black outer covering, and a dark, thick, 
 long-fibred mat worn over her bronzed shoulders as a 
 tippet. Her feet were naked. She was all life and 
 vivacity, a pretty, intelligent, young savage. My haver- 
 sack of specimens having attracted her attention whilst 
 I was talking with her father, she darted off, and, quick 
 as thought, caught a passing mouse, so keen was her 
 bright, black eye, so rapid her movements ; when, 
 returning to me with a gratified expression, she added 
 this diminutive representative of the mammalia to my 
 haversack of specimens. Grouped around were his other 
 wives and children, both boys and girls, with an aged 
 native or two, some squatted at one end of the porch, 
 and others, lounging outside ; there might have been 
 thirty or forty altogether. 
 
 On returning to the village we had v lunch of sand- 
 wiches and ale at the boat, whilst the natives were making 
 their repast on potatoes and cockles, to which fare we 
 added some of our sandwiches; but they were more anxious 
 for rum, both men and women, nay, even the children 
 showed a decided propensity for the " fire-water." This 
 habit, with others equalling demoralizing, have been 
 introduced among them by the whalers and other 
 Europeans of a low order who have settled amongst and 
 around them. 
 
 At two p.m., after I had given the chief some percussion- 
 
 ' I 
 
 V i 
 
220 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 caps for his gun, we sent the boat round to a tree, a hundred 
 or two yards lower down, as the tide was fast ebbing, and 
 the consequence shallow water. We then walked across 
 a swampy marsh to it, and finally started at 2,30 p.m. 
 On our return I gathered a beautiful white clematis here, 
 and saw several ducks, but they were far too wary and 
 shy to permit us to get within shot of them. At 3.15 p.m. 
 we reached the confluence of the Kurrito with the Kava- 
 Kava amid heavy rain all the way, continuing without 
 the slightest intermission until our return after dark. 
 
 Thursday, i^th. — Fineday. This afternoon Mr. Williams, 
 accompanied by his wife and Miss Williams, with one of 
 his sons, came on board to see the ship. I gave them some 
 Antarctic specimens, and accompanied them on shore to 
 the Observatory, where Captain Ross showed them the 
 various magnetic instruments. 
 
 Monday, \^th. — Fine day. I left the ship at 7.40 a.m. 
 in the gig, on an excursion up the Kava-Kava River, with 
 the ebb-tide against us. We pas.sed a quantity of timber 
 logs floating down stream. Landed at several of the 
 sawyers' huts on the banks, which presented the same 
 luxuriant vegetation as on the Kurrito the other day. As 
 the river became narrower, we had no small labour in 
 getting the boat through, passing two rapids having islets 
 in mid-channel. About noon we passed the Kava-Kava 
 pah, about 200 yards from the left bank, and landed. A 
 rich, alluvial, level tract extends along each side of the 
 river, studded with huts and potato patches, enlivened by 
 numerous clumps of peach-trees in full bloom. As we 
 continued our course for four or five miles, all the way 
 through dense woods of lofty pines, amongst which the 
 tall, tapering spars of the famed Koudies were very 
 conspicuous, rising straight as an arrow, the stream 
 made numerous fine curves as it meandered through the 
 flat, marshy ground fringed with underwood, in many 
 places overhanging the stream so as to form a natural 
 
Rclunt through dense Woods and darkness to the Boat, 2 2 1 
 
 arcade. Ascending to where the river divides, we 
 followed the branch to the right, which at a short distance 
 farther on again divides, and becomes so narrow that the 
 boat could only be got along by poling. 
 
 As it was now getting late in the day, I made up my 
 mind to return, first landing on the potato plantation of 
 a fine, venerable-looking old chief, much tattooed, who 
 was busily engaged in planting his crop of potatoes ; his 
 hut was completely embosomed in the densest wood. I 
 saw more birds here than I have met with anywhere else, 
 and shot several tui. At 3.30 p.m. we commenced our 
 return, with the freshets running about three knots in our 
 favour. In returning I landed at the Kava-Kava pah, 
 consisting of fifty or sixty huts, enclosed within the usual 
 stockade, twelve to fourteen feet high. A rudely built 
 church, somewhat resembling a barn in appearance and 
 dimensions, stands in the centre, and here the Rev. Mr. 
 Williams preaches a sermon in Maori every Sunday. In 
 the potato patch, through which a stream runs on its way 
 to the river, the natives were planting the tubers. The 
 chief, a young man, not much tattooed for a chief, came 
 out and shook hands with me. I think he has Seen 
 christened Matthew by the missionaries, under whose 
 care all the natives of this pah have placed themselves. 
 
 The ebb-tide being in our favour, we started imme- 
 diately. At 5. 15 pm. I landed at the entrance to the 
 Kurrito, for the boat's crew to get their supper, which 
 they cooked over a fire burning outside of a native hut, on 
 which cockles were roasting ; the natives were returning 
 with bundles of wood from the forest. Whilst the boat's 
 crew were at supper I went up the hill in search of 
 pigeons, but did not meet with any ; only shot a small 
 paroquet. Before I got back to the boat it was dark, and 
 so dense was the wood and impenetrable the long, 
 tangled fern, in many places higher than my head, that it 
 was with no little difficulty I made my way back to the 
 
 
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 222 I'oyaocs fl/ Discovery. 
 
 boat. At 6.40 p.m. we .shoved off, passing some canoes 
 and a light at a sawyer's hut, with the barking of a dog. 
 On rounding a point the light at Pomard's pah showed 
 itself. At eight p.m. we got on board. Our farthest 
 distance up the river must have been twelve to fourteen 
 miles from the ship, and the pah up the Kava-Kava not less 
 than eight or nine miles. 
 
 Tuesday, 14///. — At 10.30 a.m. I landed at the cove on 
 the west side of the bay, and in the ravine over the hill I 
 shot a shag, a pigeon, and an owl. In returning at high 
 water my course along the beach was cut off, and I had to 
 cross over the hill by a native path, through the tea- 
 scrub and fern, to Mangrove Point, where I had to wait 
 for a boat for an hour and a half, after firing at least a 
 do2cn times for one. 
 
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 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 / i • I 
 
 Trip to Waimatc— The mkiionary sitllenicnt— Ascent of the mountain 
 — Descend the crater — The sulphur-springs — P.^marc? visits tlic ship. 
 
 Tuesday, 2\st. — At eleven a.m. I landed at Pahia in the 
 gig, to meet the Rev. Mr. Taylor, who, through the kind 
 offices of Mr. Williams, had arrived for the purpose of 
 accompanying me back to his home, to show mo that 
 station and the country in its vicinity. A group cf the 
 natives were assembled round Mr. Williams's house. We 
 commenced our journey on horseback. The wind 
 happened to be in a rainy quarter ; the weather looked 
 overcast and threatening. We ascended the hill above 
 the creek at the lower end of Pahia. Our road at first 
 lay over hill and hollow, by fern and tea-scrub, wood- 
 crested summits, and along a narrow path, through which 
 both horse and rider had to force their way. At 12.45 
 we discovered that we had taken the wrong path, by a 
 few huts that appeared on our right, and had to retrace 
 our steps, but only for about a hundred yards or sn, 
 descending a hill more to the left into a flat valley. About 
 one p.m. passed by a Maori village of a few huts, sur- 
 rounded by patches of potatoes, kumeras, and other 
 vegetables. Crossed a rivulet running through it, and 
 wended our way up a hill, from the summit of which 
 the aspect of the country appeared quite changed to 
 fern-clad hills, destitute of wood, and presenting a most 
 bleak and barren appearance, arising, it is said, from the 
 
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 224 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 woods having formerly been burnt down by the natives, 
 who, in clearing an acre to plant a few potatoes, often 
 destroyed a whole forest of the finest timber. 
 
 At two p.m. we entered a path winding through dense 
 brushwood, six to eight feet high, along a flat valley. A 
 great deal of flax was growing amongst the rushes, in a 
 sedgy, marshy ground. Some peach-trees, with their 
 pink bloom, relieved the scene. At three p.m. we forded 
 the river Waitangui, about ten yards across ; and on 
 coming to four cross paths, over a fern-clad tableland, 
 we followed one to the left, in the opposite direction to 
 Waimate, to examine some blocks of limestone cropping 
 out of the bed of the river, taking us some five or six 
 miles out of our way. Reached this spot at 3.45 p.m., 
 where the river winds through wood and tall fern, between 
 steep banks where it is ten yards wide, and a strong 
 current running. 
 
 Two blocks of highly crystalline marble show them- 
 selves four or five feet above the surface of the river, and 
 a third projecting from the bank, having an E.N.E. and 
 W.S.VV. bearing, the course of the river itself being 
 S.VV. and N.E. I rode into the stream for the purpose 
 of obtaining specimens from the blocks in the centre, to 
 compare with the limestone formations about the Bay of 
 Islands, but my horse losing his footing in a deep hole of 
 water, alongside one of the blocks, was very near being 
 carried down stream by the force of the current, and I 
 could not induce him to approach the other block. How- 
 ever, being resolved to succeed in getting a specimen, 
 after having diverged so much from our course for that 
 purpose, I tried Mr. Taylor's horse, and, mounting him, 
 once more rode into the stream, and after a little buffet- 
 ing between horse and current, I got alongside the second 
 block ; but, between reining in a restive horse, and using 
 my geological hammer at the same time, I only suc- 
 ceeded in chipping off a very small fragment, so hard 
 
ArriViil al W'ainialc. 225 
 
 was the marble, but this served my purpose. A |)air of 
 (lucks rose from the banks of the river. 
 
 At 4.45 p.m. we continued on our way over a fern- 
 ckid and undulating country. Whin within a quarter of 
 a mile of the settlement, the path led through a narrow 
 belt of wood, having a most synnnetrical and beautiful 
 tree-fern, with a circular top, like an umbrella growing 
 isolated on the right-hand side. On emerging from this 
 wood, Waimate opened upon us all at once, reposing on 
 a level spot encircled by hills of moderate height. The 
 first building was the blacksmith's, with a hut or two, and a 
 little farther on, on the left of the road, we entered a white 
 gate, from which a straight carriagoroad brought us to 
 Mr. Taylor's house, after riding about 100 yards. We 
 alighted at 5.45 p.m. The house fronts the N.W., and 
 is the centre one of three, all constructed on the same 
 scale, and the only good houses here, having verandahs 
 and large flower-gardens in front, and separated from a 
 paddock by a railing. On the right is a pond for the 
 ducks, with a water-mill and clump of trees. At about 
 200 yards to the left of Mr. Taylor's houses, rises the 
 light tapering spire of the neat little church in progress 
 of building, beyond which is another clump of trees. 
 
 The whole scene, with its enclosures of clover, and 
 parterres of English flowers, remintled me more of some 
 quiet, peaceful hamlet in iMigland. than a missionary 
 settlement in the wilds of New Zealand, which barely a 
 dozen years ago was covered by an almost impenetrable 
 fern. After changing my drenched clothes in a small 
 bedroom on the left side of the verandah, having two 
 windows looking into the garden, which was allotted me 
 as a sleeping-room, we all sat down to tea, and turned 
 in at eleven p.m 
 
 Wednesday, 22nd. — Arose at seven a.m., and before 
 breakfast took a stroll round the garden, which was full 
 of English flowers, so welcome to the eye of the wanderer. 
 
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 226 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 We breakfasted at 7.30, after attending prayers. Both 
 the walls and ceilings of the dining-room are of Kauri 
 pine, which has a smooth, polished, and dark appear- 
 ance. The tables were all covered with the native 
 mats. 
 
 At 10.15 a.m. Mr. Taylor accompanied me on horse- 
 back on an excursion to a crater-shaped hill, about ten 
 miles distant ; the morning was gloomy. On passing 
 through the wood by which we approached Waimate 
 yesterday, our course lay to the right, over an undulating, 
 fern-clad land ; but in consequence of an impassable 
 wood, we had to make a considerable detour^ passing a 
 clump of trees on the left, railed in, where wood-cutting 
 was going on. At 1 1 .40 a.m. we alighted at the Rev. Mr. 
 Williams's farm, managed by his son, about six or seven 
 miles from Waimate — a pretty little Maori-built cottage, 
 having a thatched roof and reeded sides, with glazed 
 windows, and enclosed in a garden, in which the wattle 
 was growing in profusion. It is divided by the road from 
 the huts occupied by his people, and where two or three of 
 the native girls were busily occupied with (heir household 
 duties ; very good-looking lasses they were. Two of the 
 Maories were ploughing in an adjacent field with four 
 oxen yoked to the plough. The back yard was full of 
 poultry. I took a glass of ale with young Williams in 
 his picturesque little cottage, which, small as it is, he 
 has made very comfortable ; a very fancifully ornamented 
 rifle hung over the sofa. 
 
 We started again at 12.15 on horseback, accompanied 
 by him. At first across level, highly-cultivated fields, 
 and extending over many acres, well enclosed by wood 
 railings — a fine tract of rich soil, well cleared and pro- 
 ductive. After passing a hut on the right, the door 
 guarded by a dog on either side, we rounded a hill, 
 through long fern, to a small arm of a lake, skirted with 
 rushes and underwood, in a valley below the crater hill. 
 
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 mmmmsm 
 
 Mi ^' 
 
 Descent of an Extinct Crater. 
 
 227 
 
 Here I shot a very pretty little grebe; and at one p.m. 
 we commenced the ascent of the mountain. 
 
 At 1.45 p.m., after tying our steeds to the bushes, we 
 began the descent through the dense and tangled thickets 
 with which the whole interior of the bowl is clothed, to 
 the bottom of the crater, a depth of 300 feet, which we 
 reached at two p.m. ; fragments of scoria and lava were 
 scattered about amongst the rank vegetation and undiT- 
 wood at the bottom. The death-like silence and solitude 
 of the scene was only broken by the lively and varied 
 musical notes of the agile tui or parson-bird, in the top- 
 most branches of the tallest trees. I reluctantly shot 
 two of them for the collection, and one of them hav- 
 ing been only wounded by the discharge of the first 
 barrel, after falling on the ground, instantly began climb- 
 ing, in nautical phrase, hand-over-hand, up the branches 
 of a tree, with the most astonishing celerity, till he was 
 checked in his career by a discharge from my second 
 barrel. 
 
 We made the ascent from this circular bowl of wood 
 at another point which was found still more intricate, 
 when, having reached the summit, we remounted our 
 horses at 3.15 p.m. This old extinct crater, although of 
 small dimensions, not exceeding 300 feet in width at the 
 brim, is, without exception, the most perfect and sym- 
 metrical model of a volcanic vent or cone, in an extinct 
 state, that I have ever seen. On one side is a deep ravine, 
 bare of wood, through which the lava-current once found 
 an exit. Between it and the margin of the crater is a 
 saddle or ridge formed from the scoria and ashes, 
 but now clothed with fern, and through which, winding 
 round the opposite side of the hill, we reached the sulphur 
 springs, to the north, at four p.m. 
 
 These springs are situated in some small swamps and 
 pools, overgrown with rushes on a level surface. The 
 gas, with which the water is impregnated, is incessantly 
 
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 bubl)liii<4 to till' surfaci'. Tin- grass around is cncrusicd 
 over \vitli deposits of yellow sulphur. After driukinjj 
 some of the water, and fdliug a bottle with it, we re- 
 mounted our steeds, and reached Mr. Williams's farm at 
 4.30 p.m., where we took our leave of him. 
 
 'J'hc remains of former native pahs on the summits of 
 the highest hills, present such a ridged appearance as 
 to be easily taken for trappean terraces in the distance. 
 At five p.m. we forded a river, and I had a shot at a 
 brace of ducks which rose from its sedgy banks, but 
 missed them, and I have not yet succeeded in obtaining 
 specimens of the duck of this country. We arrived at 
 Waimate at six p.m., dined at seven p.m., and attended 
 the evening lecture from 7.30 to 8.20 p.m., where eighteen 
 missionary youths attended, and Mrs. Taylor with her 
 maids, both English and Maori. After tea we looked 
 over some native shells in a cabinet in the drawing-room, 
 and I turned in at 10.30 p.m. 
 
 Thursday^ 23/7/. — After breakfast, Mr. Taylor accom- 
 panied me t( ,1 Kauri pine-wood, about three miles distant, 
 most of the larger trees having been cut down, and the 
 largest living tree which I measured was twenty-four feet 
 in circumference, from seventy to eighty feet in height, 
 straight as an arrow, and without a branch, till very near 
 the top ; a quantity of resin was exuding from the bark 
 of this tree. A dead one stand .g about the same 
 height measured twenty-eight feet in circumference, and 
 a section of a trunk lying on the ground was five feet in 
 di,;ineter at the top, and nine feet a little lower down. 
 We commenced our return at 11.30; crossed a stream 
 over the trunk of a large tree which had fallen across it ; 
 n.'ached Waimate at 12.30, and after partaking of an 
 early dinner, at 1.30 p.m. 1 took leave of my hospitable 
 friends ; at 2.40, mounting my horse, accompanied by 
 one of Mr. Taylor's Maories on foot, to carry my traps, 
 started on my return to the ship, which I reached at 
 eight p.m. 
 
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The Chief Poman'^s I '/s// to the Ship. 
 
 Siitiinfny, 25///. — Gloomy day, blowing frrsli, in squalls. 
 In I lie afternoon, as our din^y was returning from our 
 sheep-station, where AlM-rnethy, our gunner, was in 
 charge of the sheep, she was eapsi/ed whilst under sail, 
 in one of those sudden squalls so frequent hen-, and 
 one of the two marines in her at the time was drowned ; 
 poor Barker, one of our best men, not much over twenty 
 yi'.'irs of age, who had been one of my own boat's crew 
 in the Kc-rguelen's Land boating expedition. The other 
 marint' was taken from the keel of the boat, to which he 
 had clung till a boat, crossing the river at the time, 
 rescued him from bis perilous position, and took him to 
 the barracks, to which 1 at once proceeded in the cutter 
 to see him ; he was in a state of great exhaustion. 
 Afterwards I crossed the bay to the pah, to which the 
 dingy had been towed, but could get no tidings what- 
 ever of the other poor fellow. 
 
 Tiicsdav, 28///. — ;\bout noon, Pomare, the chief of the 
 Bay of Islands, paid a formal visit to the ship, accom- 
 panied by twenty-four of his tribe, in his larg3 canoe ; a 
 flag was displayed in the bows, and the model of a war- 
 canoe lay at the bottom of the boat. She was paddled 
 alongside by the women, when the whole party, with the 
 exception of two or three left in charge of the boat, came 
 on board. 
 
 Pomare, on reaching the quarter-deck, took up his 
 position in a very stately attitude by the companion-hatch. 
 On Captain Ross coming to receive him, he asked in 
 vtrvgood English if he was the captain. He was dressed 
 in his state robes, a cap with broad gold lace round it, 
 showy-coloured flax mat negligertly thrown over his 
 shoulders, beneath which a buff-waistcoat with gilt but- 
 tons appeared, as also his shirt-sleeves; his trousers of 
 scarlet cloth, with a black band running down the side 
 seams, and a pair of high shoes, completed his costume. 
 His chief wife had her long black hair bound up within a 
 polished metallic fdlet, with a number of bead necklaces 
 
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230 
 
 P'oy(7j^i's of Discovery. 
 
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 round her neck, having a black and yellow flax mat over 
 her shoulders. The youngest daughter (whom I had 
 seen when up the Kurrito River, at her father's potato 
 ground, where she caught me a mouse for my haversack) 
 wore earrings of a mass of white down from the albatross 
 suspended in striking contrast with her copper-coloured 
 shoulders, over which the ordinary flax mat was carelessly 
 thrown. Like the rest of her tribe, she had a pipe in 
 her mouth — smoking is a general habit even amongst the 
 youngest children in New Zealand. The chief and his 
 wife descended with Captain Ross to his cabin, where 
 I hey had wine and trinkets given to them ; and Pomare 
 himself got a rifle as a present. The rest of the suite 
 assembled in the gun-room, where they partook of wine 
 and biscuit or grog, according to their tastes. They 
 soon cleared our shelves of all the newspapers ; and from 
 my own cabin I distributed amongst them skeins of thread 
 of various colours, which seemed to be in great request 
 amongst them, especially by Queen Pomare, as she 
 styled herself. When shown the portrait of our own 
 queen suspended over the gun-room table, she remarked, 
 " Ah ! ,ih ! queene, queene ! all de same as me ! " They 
 remained on board about two hours, highly amused with 
 all they saw. From us they went on board the Terror. 
 
 IVcdiiesday, 29///. — Fine day. At eleven a.m. I landed 
 at Mangrove Creek, and walked up the ravine, over 
 Kingfisher Hill, through a sedgy swamp at the extremity 
 of a mangrove creek, after making the circuit of the 
 wooded ravine, till I fell up^/n a native path, where I 
 shot a specimen of the beautiful pigeon of the island, on 
 the very edge of the ravine, which, from its falling amongst 
 the trees and long fern beneath, cost mean hour's loss of 
 time in searching for it, but as I ultimately found it, it was 
 well worth the trouble. Following a path in the direction 
 of the observatory, I reached it at six p.m., after shooting 
 two lul. 
 
I "" .f ».' il 
 
 First Copy of Nezo Testament in Maori Language. 
 
 231 
 
 Sunday, October yd. — After divine service on board, 
 I landed at Pahia, and called on the Rev. Mr. Williams, 
 who presented me with a copy of the New Testament in 
 the Maori language, the " first " copy printed, and the 
 selfsame copy which Mr. Williams himself had been in 
 the habit of using for years past in his pulpit, when 
 preaching to his native congregation in their own lan- 
 guage. He also gave me an invitation to dine with him 
 on Tuesday next, to meet Mr. Fitzgerald, the Govern- 
 ment Resident here. After partaking of some wine and 
 cake with the family, he gave me a passage on board 
 in his own galley, on his way to the barracks, where he 
 preaches this afternoon. 
 
 f i 
 
 \ 
 
 H 
 
 V i 
 
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 li .: 
 
 
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 i f 
 
 ^ 
 
 •11.' 
 
Kiddi-Kiddi Fulls, New Ze.iland. {See paj^e 236.) 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 . 1 i i'« 
 
 IK 
 
 Up the Kava-Knva River — Excursions — The Kiddi-Kiddi River and 
 Falls — Public discussion between Protestant and Roman Catholic 
 
 missionaries. 
 
 Monday, October ^tlt. — Lt.'ft the ship at 5.30 a.m. in the 
 gig, on an excursion to the Waiomio marble formation, 
 Captain Ross having given me his own boat's crew for 
 the purpose. The morning was moist and overcast, with 
 rain at intervals. At six a.m. I entered the main branch 
 of the Kava-Kava, and left the boat at the second 
 sawyer's hut on the left bank. Then, ascending a ridge, 
 followed a path to the pah, through which we passed at 
 7.30 a.m., a mile from the boat. From thence we con- 
 tinued our route along ridges of tea-scrub and long fern, 
 bare of trees. At 8.30 a.m. crossed a rivulet, having a 
 small cascade, or fall, of ten feet over basalt. At 8.35 
 reached the first three blocks of the Waiomio limestone. 
 
 -,,1, 
 
Excursion to Waiomio. 
 
 233 
 
 nine or ten feet in height, on the side of a low hill, 
 amongst tall fern. 
 
 On descending from this to a valley on the opposite 
 side, and just as I was about clambering up the highest 
 of the groups of rocks, some forty feet in height, my 
 steps were ai rested by the sudden apparition of an aged 
 Maori chief, who hailed me, and endeavoured to make 
 me understand that I was approaching " tabooed " ground, 
 consecrated as a burial-place, and the natives are still 
 very sensitive in all these matters with reference to the 
 "taboo." I at once desisted from advancing a step 
 farther, and accompanied him to his village at Waiomio, 
 just below, situated in a fine valley skirted by a meander- 
 ing river, which takes a south-east and north-west course 
 through it. 
 
 It was 9.30 a.m. when we reached the village, consist- 
 ing of about thirty huts, and at the chief's wigwam I saw 
 the most aged-looking native I have yet met with, and, 
 from the way in which the chief introduced him to me, I 
 concluded he was his father. I ascended a coarse, bluff, 
 buff-coloured mass of limestone, having a patch of 
 potato-ground at its base, and from the summit of a fern- 
 clad hill, strewed over with fragments of greenstone, I 
 had a general view of the range of limestone rocks arising 
 from the declivities of the valley in isolated masses, from 
 ten to forty feet in height, horizontally pointed, with 
 sharply-defined angular edges, irregularly pointed at the 
 top, and presenting a castellated appearance, the whole 
 intermingled with trees and underwood. These groups 
 of limestone form an irregular and interrupted circle, 
 the general bearing of which have a W.S.VV. and 
 E.N.E. direction, the apparently magnesian limestone 
 being nearer north and south. The general aspect of 
 the country around consists of barren and fern-clad 
 ridges, with here and there a clump of wood merging 
 from some ravine. The distance from the river, where 
 
 A\ 
 
234 
 
 yoyag-es of Discovery. 
 
 \\ 
 
 \ .[ 
 
 we left the boat, about four miles. At 1 1.30 a.m. we 
 commenced our return by another path, as I make it a 
 rule never to retrace my steps, and thus waste time, if a 
 new route by arv chance presents itself. Our way now 
 lay along the edge of a wooded ravine, through fern and 
 tea-scrub. We heard the report of guns in the village, 
 doubtless the chief trying some of the percussion caps I 
 had given him. After proceeding some two miles, we 
 descended a deep, circular bowl or hollow, clothed with 
 fern and underwood, and about 300 feet in depth, having 
 a narrow river running through it, winding along in a 
 very tortuous course, nearly forming the figure of 8 in its 
 doublings. A few natives had built their huts here, amid 
 potato plantations. On crossing the stream, and emerg- 
 ing on the opposite side, I came upon the only outlet 
 to this singular glen in the mountains, due, evidently, to 
 some ancient crater, of which it is the only remnant 
 left. I now followed the mazy windings of the stream 
 downwards, in the direction of its course towards the 
 main branch of the Kava-Kava, to within about two 
 miles of its confluence with that river, just above the 
 pah. So tortuous is its course between wooded hills on 
 either side, one curve doubling on another, that we 
 had every few yards to ford the stream. We passed 
 many huts and native villages, scattered along its 
 banks. The natives were busy planting their potatoes. 
 In one spot I tasted som ' 'meras an old native 
 woman was roasting over a f • . che open air, and found 
 them delicious, as baked in this underground oven in 
 heated stones covered over with soil. Saw only one 
 pigeon, a hawk, and a fe-v tui. 
 
 Following a native path over fern-clad table-land for 
 about a mile, we reached a good cross-path, having 
 a view of both the Kava-Kava and Kurrito rivers, reach- 
 ing our boat, concealed by a headland on the left, at 
 two p.m. Passing down the river, we were off Pomar^'s 
 
 !i i 
 
Excursion up the Kiddi-Kiddi River. 
 
 235 
 
 pah at four p.m., and proceeded up the Waikaddi with 
 the flood-tide. I shot a gannet from an old native 
 woman's canoe, who paddled me nearer to the mud-flats 
 than our own boat could approach, from the shallowness 
 of the banks. After drinking some wine which I gave 
 her for her trouble, and with which she seemed much 
 pleased, she returned to a slave-girl she had left on the 
 mud-flat picking up cockles, their favourite food. 
 
 The Waikaddi, as it passes by the left of the pah, is a 
 wide river for about eight miles, afterwards, winding round 
 some flats to the right, it becomes suddenly reduced to 
 a narrow stream, terminating about half a mile higher up 
 among mangrove bushes. It now being six p.m., and 
 having the wind, as w^ell as a strong flood-tide against us 
 all the way back, we did not get on board the ship till 
 nine p.m. 
 
 Tuesday, ^th. — S" ..y day. At three p.m. I left the 
 ship for Pahia, to dine with Mr. Williams, where I met at 
 dinner Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, with their two children. 
 After dinner looked over an herbarium of native plants, 
 seaweeds, fossils, and drawings, in the drawing-room, 
 where we had tea at nine p.m. Mr. Williams's boat put me 
 on board, landing the Fitzgeralds at Russelton on the 
 way, and where, on the following day, I dined with them 
 at 4.30 p.m., and left at nine p.m. 
 
 Tuesday, \gth. — At five a.m. I left the ship in one of 
 our boats, the morning overcast and threatening rain, 
 and when off Pahia we encountered a pelting shower. But 
 at eight a.m. the weather cleared up, and I made sail up 
 the river, which is wide, passing between islets and rocks 
 on the port shore. At nine passed a creek on the left, a 
 little beyond which the river divides into two branches, 
 becoming narrower. I followed the branch to the left, 
 winding in zigzag curves. Saw a hawk on the bank, 
 low hills on each side. At 9.30 p.m. passed a pipe-clay 
 formation on the right bank, about twelve feet in height, 
 
 ■r-'> 
 
236 
 
 Voyages of Discovery, 
 
 ii 1^ 
 
 direction south-west and north-east. A little higher up 
 a fine mass of columnar greenstone of hexagonal form 
 crops out. At 9.40 reached Mr. Kemp's station, a 
 pretty place, with a neat church and farmlike-looking 
 house at the top of the river. Met Mr. Taylor here, and 
 walked up the hill above the house to the spot which 
 had witnessed so many of the murders and atrocities 
 perpetrated by the notorious chief Shongi, who once 
 resided near this, and died a few years ago. At 11.30 
 Mr. Kemp gave me as a guide to the Falls of the Kiddi- 
 Kiddi a native lad. On crossing the river, and over a 
 fern-clad table-land, by a narrow track, a distant group 
 of what appears to the eye merely underwood, rising a 
 little above the level of the plain, alone indicates the 
 ravine in which they are situated, when the Falls burst 
 upon you very suddenly. On reaching the edge of the 
 ravine, however, what appeared to be bushes in the 
 distance now assumed the form of tall trees, growing out 
 of the acclivities of the ravine, with their tops alone 
 showing above it. 
 
 The fall is over a perpendicular wall of rock — basalt — 
 on the right, about eighty feet in height, and the width of 
 the stream perhaps fifty feet. It descends into a deep and 
 finely-wooded ravine, strewed over with fragments of rock, 
 the river below the falls being about 100 feet across. I 
 waded through it about 100 yards above the falls, and 
 walked along the opposite bank to the mouth of the cave 
 at the back of the falls, over the ferns amongst the 
 underwood and trees. 
 
 The cave is nearly 100 feet wide, about forty feet in 
 height, and much the same in depth ; the roof encrusted 
 over, and the floor strewed with ochreous clays, amongst 
 which small herbaceous plants and ferns were growing. 
 
 The striking scene before my eyes, formed by the 
 curtain of falling water intermingled with vapour and mist 
 in front of me, with the rushing sound of the falling water, 
 
wmmm 
 
 T 
 
 Pass behind the Kiddi-Kiddi Falls. 
 
 237 
 
 as it descended in a wide sheet from the steep precipice 
 above, amply repaid me for any amount of labour entailed 
 in reachinii; so remarkable a position for observing it. On 
 the other side of the cave I succeeded in getting over a 
 narrow ledge of rocks up the bank, which saved me from 
 retracing my steps — always objectionable to me — for a 
 long way round, and having to cross the river again ; but 
 1 found it very slippery, with barely any foothold even for 
 the toes, so that a false step would have plunged me into 
 the foaming stream beneath me. At 12.30 I had reached 
 the summit of the bank, and started on my return at 
 12.45, cift^er making a hasty sketch of the falls, as 
 shown in the accompanying engraving. I reached Mr. 
 Kemp's station at 1.40 p.m., and with a fresh breeze 
 shoved off in my boat down the river. At two p.m. I 
 got some specimens of the columnar basalt, or rather 
 greenstone, and some of the pipe-clay. It being ebb- 
 tide, I landed on the mud flats, which are extensive, and 
 dry at low water ; saw a heron or bittern, and a brace or 
 two of ducks, but all were too wary to get within shot of 
 them. I shot one small sandpiper out of a flock. The 
 weather now becoming wet and squally, I made sail on 
 the boat, and, beating down, cleared the river at six p.m. 
 Landed just round the headland on the right, near a cor- 
 morant rookery, built on the tops of the trees ; there were 
 a number of nests, chiefly confined to two trees ; some of 
 the birds were sitting, and I also heard the cry of young 
 birds. The parent birds were hovering overhead in great 
 numbers, in much excitement and alarm. I shot four for 
 specimens, and might have killed any number had I 
 needed them. I shoved off again at 6.45 p.m., in a dark 
 and stormy night, eight miles still between me and the 
 ship, but we now made sail with both the wind and tide 
 in our favour. Saw the Kororarika lights in passing. I 
 found the same argillaceous character of the hills, with 
 greenstone along the banks of the Kiddi-Kiddi (with the 
 
 m. 
 
« 
 
 I' t 
 
 ■! I 
 
 i !! 
 
 i •! 
 
 * s! 
 
 238 
 
 Voyixges 0/ Discovery, 
 
 addition of the pipe-clay) as on the shores of the bay itself. 
 I got safe on board the ship again at 8.30 p.m., after a 
 somewhat boisterous passage. 
 
 Thursday, 21st. — Fine day. At ten a.m. I landed at 
 Russelton on a shooting excursion. Shot a bittern in the 
 mangrove swamp, three small sedge-birds, a lark, and two 
 warblers. On the following day I was fully employed 
 skinning and preserving my birds, ten in all. Captain 
 Leviche, of the Herione, French frigate, recently arrived, 
 came on board, accompanied by his first lieutenant, to 
 call on Captain Ross ; and Captain Ross on the following 
 day returned his call, and was saluted with nine guns, 
 which number we returned. 
 
 Sunday, i\th. — H.M.S. Favourite arrived at nine a.m., 
 and I dined on board of her. 
 
 Tuesday, •2.6th. — Fine, warm day. At eight a.m. I break- 
 fasted at Mr. Fitzgerald's, and accompanied him and his 
 wife to Kororarika, to attend a conference held there 
 between the Protestant and Roman Catholic Missions. 
 At ten a.m. we found both rival parties assembled under a 
 temporary shed, erected for the purpose with some planks, 
 near the native pah, encircled by a large group of natives. 
 Having escorted Mrs. Fitzgerald and another lady to 
 Mr. Burroughs's (the clergyman) house up the hill, and 
 left them under the verandah with Miss Williams, I 
 returned to the beach and remained at the conference till 
 three p.m., when it was adjourned till the following day. 
 All three of the captains arrived just as it was over, 
 and we repaired to the clergyman's house for lunch, 
 after which I took a passage with him in his boat, 
 accompanied by Mr. Taylor, to Pahia. From thence I 
 walked along the beach to the observatory, and got on 
 board at 6.15 p.m. This meeting appears to have been 
 brought about to try the strength of the two contending 
 parties by discussing certain points of religion in the 
 native language, thus affording the New Zealanders an 
 
Protestant and Roman Catholic Conference Assembled. 239 
 
 opportunity of judging for themselves which of the two 
 creeds it might be most desirable to become converts to. 
 
 Mr. W'lliams, as the head of the Church Missionary 
 Society, was the principal speaker, and, from the attentive 
 manner in which the Maories listened to him, most unques- 
 tionably had the best part of it and the greatest influence 
 with them. The point which gave rise to the warmest part 
 of the controversy was that of the worshipping of images^ 
 in which the Roman Catholics clearly went to the wall. 
 There were three of their priests present, two of them the 
 chief speakers. Their attendants occupied another table 
 in the rear, containing books and plates for reference, with 
 pens, ink, and paper. On the opposite side, seated with 
 writing materials before him, was Mr. Williams, chairs 
 and benches being placed between them for the accom- 
 modation of visitors. Mr. Fitzgerald took his seat between 
 the contending parties as president. Each party was 
 allowed a quarter of an hour for his speech. The priests 
 made a great fuss about the answers and signatures to 
 some questions. 
 
 A son of the talented and amusing author of VVaterton's 
 " Wanderings in South America " was present ; a staunch 
 Catholic, and evidently, from his personal appearance, a 
 more eccentric character even than his father, the ^reat 
 ornithologist himself. The motley group of Maories 
 assembled around formed not the least interesting part of 
 the programme, in their many and varied grotesque 
 costumes. In th'^ front rank were several old chiefs, 
 squatted on their haunches on the bare ground, some with 
 gold-laced caps, others in round hats or straw ones, and 
 not a few having only their natural covering of thick, 
 coarse, bushy, black hair. One would appear wrapped 
 within the folds of a flax mat of native manufacture, 
 another with a common blanket carelessly thrown over 
 his brawny shoulders. Pea-jackets also, with red guernsey 
 frocks, and even camlet cloaks, formed part of their 
 
 H \ 
 
 iM 
 
240 
 
 l^iyagis 0/ Discovery. 
 
 H ) 
 
 costumes ; coloured shirts being in general use as under 
 garments, with scarlet merino and silk stocks. Amongst 
 the female part of the audience prints and ginghams were 
 the fashion ; and there was one pretty Maori girl, about 
 fifteen or sixteen years of age, whose graceful and sylph- 
 like figure did ample justice to her dressmaker, whoever 
 she was. The whole scene was of so novel a nature, 
 enhanced, too, by such lovely weather, as one is not likely 
 to have an opportunity of witnessing again. The French 
 frigate sailed to-day. 
 
 Wednesday, 2 7///. — Rainy day. I landed on the 
 observatory shore shooting, but only succeeded in getting 
 a tui and a fantail. The conference at Kororarika was 
 brought to a conclusion this afternoon, after which 
 Messrs. Williams and Taylor dined with me on board at 
 6.30 p.m. 
 
 From Thursday, 28th, to Saturday, 30th, I have been 
 very busily employed in skinning and preserving birds, 
 bittern, cormorant, &c., and arranging my specimens of 
 natural history. The natives coming on board furnished 
 me with many of the vernacular names in their own 
 euphonious language. 
 
 Monday, November \st. — The Fitzgeralds sailed for 
 Auckland, and the two captains started on an excursion 
 to the Waimate. 
 
 Thursday, ^th. — The Albatross yacht arrived, her 
 owner, Mr. Blackett, bringing me the first number of 
 the journal of the Tasmanian Natural History Society, 
 kindly sent me from Hobart Town by the Governor, Sir 
 John Franklin. 
 
241 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Trip inland, and my niglit out in the woods — Shooting birds— Sail from 
 the Bay of Islands after three months' stay. 
 
 Tuesday, gtli, at eleven a.m. — Finding that the beautiful 
 pigeon of the island was so scarce in the immediate 
 vicinity of the anchorage, I determined on making my 
 way through the dense woods and ravines as far as I could 
 accomplish in the day direct inland from the ships, with 
 the view of obtaining specimens for the Government 
 ornithological collection, to be transmitted from this place 
 to England. 
 
 Starting from the observatory above the small river, and 
 over the hill at the head of the mangrove swamp, I 
 followed the native paths through the tea-scrub, winding 
 along the summits or sides of the hills and ridges^ 
 sometimes through short or tall fern, now and then pene- 
 trating some densely-wooded summit, through which it is 
 frequently very difficult to follow the faint traces of a 
 path bewildered amid the rank vegetation and tall fern 
 growing beneath the lofty timber-trees. These native 
 paths are found passing over most of the hills in the 
 vicinity of the bay, and branching off in every direction, 
 but seldom descending into the deep and thickly-wooded 
 ravines, which are so closely interwoven with the long 
 lianes and parasitical plants, fern, and underwood, as to 
 render them all but impermeable even to the native, and 
 to keep a path open is out of the question where the 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
 ■li 
 
 11 
 
) i 
 
 242 
 
 / 'ojdj^rs of Discovery. 
 
 I'lM 
 
 ijrowtli of vegetation is so rapid. Here I shot two small, 
 dark-coloured species of sylvia, a bird of such quiet, 
 unobtrusive habits, as only to be found in the bottoms of 
 the most thickly-wooded ravines, in the silence and soli- 
 tude of which they hop from twig to twig, like young 
 robins in their habits. 
 
 In the farthest ravine I reached, certainly not more 
 than some five or six miles in a direct line, as the crow 
 flies, from the bay, though at the very least double that 
 distance in the course I had to follow — winding round the 
 edges of some ravines, and threading through the dense 
 mazes in the depths of others — I ultimately lost every 
 trace of a path, which, for some time previously, had 
 become all but obliterated. I shot a new bird in this 
 ravine — at least, one we had not met with before, belong- 
 ing to the corviihe family, and about the size of a jay, of 
 a dark slate colour, with wattles of an azure blue on its 
 throat — and lost some time in searching for its mate, 
 and also in the search for a pigeon, out of two which 1 
 had shot, falling into the long fern. So difficult a matter 
 is it here to find your game without the aid of a dog, 
 that the bird in question was cold and stiff when at last 
 I picked it up. 
 
 It being already 4.30 p.m., the night fast closing in, 
 with an intricate, almost trackless course back to the 
 ship, before me, I commenced my return ; but missing 
 the track between two wooded ravines, I took the 
 wrong side of one of them, and eventually got so out of 
 my course to the right, that I became benighted before I 
 could recover the track in the direction of the ships, 
 of which about dusk I got a momentary glance from the 
 summit of a hill bounded by an impassable ravine, cut- 
 ting me entirely off from them. After a fruitless attempt 
 to turn the hill, the darkness increased so much that I 
 could no longer see my way. 
 
 I gave up all hope of reaching the ship, and at once 
 
A A^i^/it's Bivouac in (lie Forest. 
 
 243 
 
 once 
 
 prepared to rough it out in the hush for the night. 
 Striking up to the right, through a great deal of tall fern, 
 I descended a very det-p and densely wooded ravine in 
 search of water, so exceedingly thirsty had I hi-conic 
 from the extreme heat and toil I had gone through during 
 the day. When about halfway down, groping in the 
 dark, I laid my ear to the ground, and the sound kA 
 running water was distinctly heard. I discovered a tiny 
 rill, oozing over the rocks at the bottom, as it mur- 
 mured along, and from it I quenched my thirst with a 
 draught of nature's refreshing beverage ; this, with a bit 
 of ship's biscuit I had in my pocket, formed my frugal 
 supper; for having intended being on board to a late 
 dinner, I had had nothing else since breakfast, and was 
 rather lightly clothed (in a thin duck shooting-jacket) to 
 bivouac out in the open air. 
 
 The bottom of this ravine was brilliantly illuminated 
 by numerous phosphorescent particles, arising from the 
 decomposition of the decaying wood, glittering like so 
 many glow-worms or fire-flies, affording light enough to 
 enable me to see the time by my watch, which indicated 
 eleven p.m. I now descended to the opposite side, in 
 search of a suitable place in which to take up my quarters 
 for the night, and on the ridge above, by the side of a 
 wooded hill, found a small, open glade, between the trees, 
 having a large mangrove swamp below and in front, 
 extending onwards to Fomare Bay, the pah lights being 
 visible. I felled the dead slender trunk of a tree, around 
 which some withered clematis had entwined, which was 
 standing near ; separating the dry clematis from the dead 
 wood, I rolled it round me as a covering for the night, 
 this, with some long fern, constituted ray couch, on 
 which I resigned myself to sleep, worn out and wearied. 
 The green fern growing around was all wet with the dew. 
 
 The night proved mild and starlight, the silence being 
 broken at intervals by the harsh notes of a small owl, 
 
 R 2 
 
 i 
 
 lit 
 
 1 ,'i 
 
244 
 
 J'oyagcs of Discovery 
 
 l» . J 
 
 11 
 
 
 I - 1' 
 
 ! • ( 
 
 much resembling, both in size and colour, our own little 
 passerine owl ; the Ruru-Ruru of the natives, or Sirix 
 Ahva Zcalandicc of ornithologists. This bird had selected 
 the topmost branches of a tree, immediately over my 
 head, for his station, from which he incessantly sent forth 
 his monotonous cry of " more-pork, more-pork," through- 
 out the long and wearisome night. About three a.m. 
 I heard the crowing of the cocks and the barking of ihe 
 dogs in a native village not far distant, but separated 
 from me by the mangrove swamp, over which it would 
 have been next to impossible to make my way in the 
 darkness of the night ; though not more, perhaps, than 
 a mile orf on the shores of the bay. Before the sun ap- 
 peared above the horizon, as the small hours wore on, I 
 heard the musical notes of that pretty mocking-bird of 
 this country, the tui, or parson-bird, and another small 
 bird belonging to the fly-catchers, the earliest risers here. 
 A light shower now fell, and the sky became much over- 
 cast. I arose at 4.30 p.m., and heard the voices of the 
 natives in their village at some distance. But the rain 
 now falling in heavy showers, delayed my departure till 
 5.30 p.m., when, freeing myself from my tunic of entwining 
 clematis, and taking up my gun from beneath me, I 
 ascended the hill in my rear. Saw two pigeons amongst 
 the trees, one of which 1 shot. I next made my way 
 over a fern-clad hill to the left, following a native path 
 which seemed to lead in the direction of the ship, 
 descending a hill to the bay, by a sawyer's hu*:. The 
 ridges ran E. and W., the lateral spurs at right angles, 
 N. and S. generally. I shot a fantail and a paroquet 
 returning. Got on board at eleven a.m. 
 
 Wednesday, \']th. — I landed at Pahia; very fine day. 
 I called and took leave of Mr. Williams's family. Miss 
 Williams had kindly obtained for my herbarium the first 
 blossoms of the Pohutokava {^Mctrosidcros iornieiiiosa), a 
 large forest-tree, attaining a height of from sixty to 
 
i^ 
 
 ■c till 
 
 day. 
 
 Vliss 
 
 first 
 
 a), a 
 
 to 
 
 Bmhixrk Natural I/isfory Spainiciis for England. 245 
 
 seventy feet, the timber of wliich is so hard and durable 
 as to obtain for it the name of the New Zealand oak ; 
 the leaves, which are of a shining, deep oreen, change to 
 a bright scarlet before falling. The beautiful rich coral- 
 like crimson of the flowers contrasts strikingly with the 
 normal dccp-greon, clustering foliage. The tree from 
 which Miss Williams succeeded in procuring the blossoms 
 rises from the embankment overhanjfinii: the shores of the 
 bay in the vicinity of Pahia, just before reaching Mr. 
 Williams's residence, and was only just beginning to unfold 
 its blossoms. 
 
 Iliiirsday, \Stli. — Very line, warm day. Mr. Williams's 
 two sons came on board to take leave of me, bringing 
 me a large bouquet of flowers ; and soon after they had 
 lef^, their father came on board and lunched in the gun- 
 room, at which Captain Ross joined us. The Jupiter 
 arriving from Auckland this morning, I embaiked on 
 board of her my three cases of specimens of natural 
 history for lingland, when she sailed in the afternoon 
 for Sydney. 
 
 Siiuday^ list. — Fine day. I went on shore to Pahia, 
 and took my final leave of my kind friends the Williams 
 family, who had given me every aid m their power in my 
 natural history pursuits. On the following day I again 
 landed for the last time in New Zealand, at the observa- 
 tory, at nine a.m. Fine, warm, sunny weather. I strolled 
 along the beach as far as the Waitungui River, and, 
 returning over the hills at the back of Pahia, obtained an 
 almanack in the New Zealand language from Colenso's 
 printing-office at Pahia. I also gathered a few more of 
 the blossoms from the pohutokava tre?, which were 
 rather diflicult to get at, from the height of the branches 
 above the argillaceous cliffs o\erhanging the bay. Re- 
 turned on board at 5.20 p.m. 
 
 On Saturday last a murder was committed by the 
 natives at Paroa i3ay, and the house set on lire ; an 
 
 ;H 
 
 li 
 
246 
 
 I 'oyaocs of Discovery. 
 
 J i 
 
 
 .1- "} 
 
 A-y* 
 
 Englishwoman and a man-servant, with a native child, 
 were the victims. As a rising amongst the natives was 
 apprehended last night, the Favourite s boat about mid- 
 night came alongside of us, manned and armed, and 
 under the command of her first lieutenant, for orders 
 before proceeding to the town ; but, on finding all quiet, 
 returned on board. 
 
 Tuesday, November 2yd. — At 4.45 a.m. we sailed from 
 the Bay of Islands in company with H.M.S. Favourite^ 
 after a sojourn of somewhat more than three months. At 
 eight a.m. we were fairly outside of the harbour and at 
 sea. Our decks had all the appearance of a farm-yard, 
 from the sea stock, consisting of oxen, sheep, goats, 
 pigs, and poultry, and each quarter was festooned with a 
 line of pumpkins. 
 
 The entrance to the Bay of Islands is about eleven 
 miles in width, and the entire length of the two islands 
 may be estimated at about 800 miles, and averaging 100 
 miles in breadth, distant from Australia about 1200 miles. 
 The mountains attain a height of some 14,000 feet; the 
 Keri-Keri Falls descend from a height of ninety feet. 
 The mean temperature of the climate at midsummer 
 (February) is 66° Fahr., and in June, midwinter, 48°. 
 Waimate is twelve miles from the Bay of Islands ; Mount 
 Campbell, near the North Cape, rises abruptly from the 
 sea to 800 feet, having greenstone on the south and 
 sandstone on the north side. 
 
^47 
 
 CHAPTER XXUF. 
 
 rm 
 
 I 
 
 
 Second attempt to reach the South Pole — In tlie ice-pack — Our 
 Christmas fare— Large penguins — A ball-room cut in the ice— Our 
 Antarctic hotel — A white petrel falls a victim to the New Year. 
 
 Tuesday, November 2'^rd, 1841. — At noon we found 
 ourselves in lat. 35° 14' S., and long. 174° 39' E., ther- 
 mometer 65°, wind S.VV., a fine, fresh, and fair wind for 
 Chatham Island. Captain Sullivan came on board and 
 took leave of us, and on his returning to his ship, the 
 Favourite manned her rigging and cheered us, which we 
 duly returned, and stood to the southward, whilst she 
 shaped her course for Auckland; saw many gannets and 
 stormy petrel about. 
 
 Friday, 26th. — Having entered west longitude, by 
 crossing the meridian of 180°, we consequently make eight 
 days in the week, and a repetition of this day in to- 
 morrow's log. The gale of last night has subsided, but 
 the wind coming round unfair for Chatham Island, pre- 
 vents us from anchoring there as originally intended. 
 
 On Monday, 13th of December, in lat. 55° 18', long. 
 149° 20', W., we crossed the circle of uniform tempera- 
 ture of the ocean, the temperature not varying one degree 
 throughout the entire depth. 
 
 Thursday, i6th. — Nothing worth recording has trans- 
 pired for some days past. The birds about us have 
 been Diomedia exulens, or the wandering albatross, 
 with the sooty and the black-backed kinds, many young 
 immature birds, blue and black petrel numerous, a few 
 
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 9 *«<, • 
 
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 248 
 
 l^oydges of Discovery. 
 
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 penguins, and a group of black and white porpoises. 
 Several soundings have been made for the temperature 
 of the water. At six a.m. I saw the first berg at some 
 distance in the horizon, but smaller and far less imposing 
 in its appearance than the one we first fell in with last 
 year. At 8.30 a.m. we passed a larger one. The tem- 
 perature of the air at noon was 48° and that of the sea 33°. 
 Only a few straggling pieces of ice about ; weather hazy, 
 chilly, gloomy, and overcast; saw some Cape pigeon, 
 blue petrel, and Diomedia fnltginosn, but the common 
 albatross has now altogether left us. The crow's-nest 
 was got up to-day. 
 
 Saiiii'day, iSth. — Early this morning we entered the 
 pack ; the ice was generally loose, but having some heavy 
 pieces amongst it, with several large bergs. Working 
 through lanes of water all day, with a fair wind for the 
 south. I saw the first white petrel to-day, with an 
 Antarctic and Cape petrel or two, a gigantic petrel was 
 flying about the ship. Saw several whales spouting in 
 the distance ; one finner passed close to the ship, and 
 another dived down under her bottom from the bows. 
 
 Our deck all day has presented a sad scene of slaughter, 
 the six sheep remaining, with most of our pigs, were 
 killed, and suspended over the quarter-boats. The last 
 ox was killed yesterday, and I preserved the horns. Our 
 fodder running short cost the poor animals their lives at 
 an earlier date than would otherwise have been the case. 
 This afternoon I went up to the crow's-nest for the first 
 time since it was got up, to have a look at the ice ; saw 
 a large berg, which I took a sketch of after coming down 
 from aloft. At 8.30 p.m. I shot the first white petrel as 
 it was flying over the main-truck, when it fell on the keel 
 of the boat amidships. At 9.45 p.m. I shot the first 
 Antarctic petrel, which fell into the weather-chains, and 
 I gave it to Captain Ross, who takes much interest in 
 collecting birds, and skins them himself. The day was 
 
 
Astonishment of a Seal on being peppered by No. 4 Shot. 249 
 
 very fine, with a beautiful sunset behind a berg, bearing 
 S. \ W. I heard the note of the white petrel, a kind 
 of murmuring cackle, as two were chasing each other. 
 At eleven p.m. the thermometer was 28°, lat. 62° 50', 
 long. 147° 25'. 
 
 Monday^ 20th, — Sailing through loose ice, several 
 whales blowing near the ship. Three seals caught on 
 the ice, the last one having the stomach full of shrimps. 
 Captain Rr ss went away in the boat and got soundings 
 in 1 700 f;ichoms. I shot another white petrel during the 
 first watch, which I secured by its falling into the quarter- 
 boat, or rather upon the quarter deck. 
 
 Tuesday, 21st. — Sailing amongst heavy pack-ice, pass- 
 ing many seals, and a silver-grey one was caught. Whilst 
 I was sketching the ice, a seal asleep on a piece of ice 
 passed on the weathtr quarter, when, having my gun 
 charged with small shot lying alongside of me, I could 
 not resist the impulse to fire at him, to see how he would 
 act, for at the distance he was it could njt injure him in 
 the least, but simply tickle his tough hide and frighten 
 him. Indeed I never saw an animal look so astonished 
 as he did, on being roused from his siesta by the shower 
 of No. 4 shot falling around him. He lost no time in 
 shuffling his unwieldly form towards the edge of the ice, 
 at the same time elevating his head with open jaws, and 
 staring about him. Thunder-storms are somewhat rare 
 phenomena in high latitudes, or he might have thought 
 that he had been struck by lightning. The latitude 
 to-day was 64° 50', long. 1 53° 23'. 
 
 Wednesday, 22nd. — This morning we found the sea 
 nearly clear of ice, and were congratulating ourselves 
 that we had passed through the whole of the pack, when 
 about noon we entered within another margin, which 
 became heavier as we proceeded on, till about midnight, 
 when we were completely hampered amongst heavy 
 masses. The day was otherwise fine, and we passed a 
 
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 2 50 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 number of seals on the ice ; three were caught, an old 
 and two young ones, and another young one of a darker 
 colour, and I measured and weighed them all. 
 
 At six p.m. a penguin of the largest kind was seen on 
 the ice, and the starboard quarter-boat being lowered, I 
 went in pursuit of him, accompanied by Abernethy, our 
 gunner, and the junior mate. Being t!ie first of the 
 large species that we have seen, and new to us, I resolved 
 to give him no ch ance of escape, by shooting him through 
 the centre of the body with a ball from my old double- 
 barrel ; yet on landing upon the piece of ice to secure 
 him, he displayed as much strength and energy as if he 
 had only been struck by a few grains of small shot, so 
 powerful is the structure and tenacity of life in these 
 magnificent birds. I had to put an end to his sufferings 
 on getting him on board ; he weighed sixty-four pounds. 
 I shot a white petrel on the same piece of ice. As we 
 were returning to the ship two more large penguins 
 appeared on the ice at some distance. At nine p.m. I 
 again went away in the same cutter after two small 
 penguins, of which I shot one and a white petrel, in 
 lat. 65° 20', long. 154° 19'. 
 
 Thursday, 2yd. — Weather gloomy and overcast. At 
 eleven a.m., accompanied by Abernethy, I went away in 
 the starboard quarter-boat in the pursuit of a large 
 penguin on a piece of ice. He took the water from this, 
 and got upon an adjacent piece, which I pulled round to, 
 leaving the gunner and part of the boat's crew behind to 
 intercept him in the event of his retreating to the same 
 spot again ; which he did after a chase across the ice, 
 '-"^d was ultimately caught by the gunner on the very 
 ;- ^m'^ piece of ice on which we at first saw him ; his 
 w'ight sixty-four pounds and a half. At 1.40 p.m. we 
 maHe fast to a floe-piece, and took on board twelve tons 
 frtMU .!>e hummocks on it, to complete our water. At 
 7.45 p.m., just as we were about casting off from it, I 
 
Shoot first laroc Potgvin -n'it/i Ball, 
 
 LSI 
 
 shot a white petrel, which fell on it. At 8.30 p.m. I 
 went in pursuit of a large penguin, accompanied by Dr. 
 Hooker and the junior mate. He gave us a long chase 
 over the piece of ice, making off on his breast along the 
 surface of the snow, propelling himself with his fiipper- 
 like wings and his feet with astonishing rapidity, whilst 
 we sank up to the knees at every step. I came up with 
 him first, and, as I stopped his way with a stick, the 
 mate got hold of him, and he was finally escorted down 
 to the boat between myself and one of the boat's crew, 
 one having hold of each flipper, as depicted in Captain 
 Ross's narrative of the voyage, in the heading of a 
 chapter. He weighed sixty-one pounds and a half. We 
 had to make a considerable circuit to the piece of ice, 
 forcing the boat through very narrow channels by break- 
 ing away the ice. Passed two seals swimming in the 
 water as we returned on board at 9.30 p.m. Two whalers 
 passed the ship. Another penguin, weighing fifty-four 
 pounds and a half, was subsequently caught, but I was 
 not present. Lat. at noon was 65° 59', long. 155° 44', 
 thermometer 28°, wind E.S.E. 
 
 Friday^ 2^th. — Employed all day in superintending 
 the preservation of the skeleton of the silver-grey seal, 
 weighing 414 pounds, exclusive of the blood lost. The 
 stomach was empty. Our decks full of ice caused a 
 feeling of chilliness. At one p.m. 1 went in the cutter, 
 with the gunner and mate, in pursuit of another large 
 penguin, which weighed seventy pounds and a half. In 
 the afternoon we were tacking about in an open pool of 
 water, off a large berg, which I took a sketch of. We 
 passed our Christmas Eve in lat. 65° 58', long. 155° 54', 
 with the thermometer 31°, in the midshipmen's berth, where 
 Captain Ross and all the gun room officers assembled, 
 and were regaled with punch, cake, and snap-dragons. 
 
 Saturday, 2$th, Christmas Day. — We had divine 
 service, but no sermon ; and at 3.30 p.m. Captain Ross 
 
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 Voy(Tj£;^cs of Discovery. 
 
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 and the gentlemen from the midshipmen's berth dined in 
 the gun-room, and, although surrounded by ice, and 
 having been some time at sea, we managed to provide a 
 very fair dinner on the occasion, roast goose and plenty 
 of fresh meat. The weather in the earlier part of the day 
 was overcast and gloomy, and our decks, unusually cold 
 and chilly, from the quantity of ice piled abaft, and from 
 which we derive our supply of fresh water. The weather, 
 however, in the afcornoon cleared up fine, the ship tacking 
 about in an open pool of water. The Terror appeared 
 beset behind a most icmarkable berg, having two cupola- 
 shaped hummocks on its summit, which we christened 
 the " Christmas berg." I took two sketches of it, giving 
 one to Captain Ross. There were several white petrel 
 about. In the evening I went up to the crow's-nest, 
 and found the ice more open. So ended our Christ- 
 mas Day within the pack; the thermometer at 27°, 
 wind N.E. 
 
 Monday^ 27///. — Snow fell last night ; day gloomy ; 
 beating about in an open pool of water. It took me four 
 hours in skinning and preserving the large penguin I shot 
 the other day. At six p.m. three more were caught, one 
 weighing sixty-four pounds, which Captain Ross himself 
 skinned ; and another of fifty-three pounds he put in 
 pickle ; and the third one, weighing fifty-seven pounds, 
 I preserved in a cask of pickle, to present to my own 
 college, for a skeleton for the Hunterian Museum. 
 
 Tuesday, 28///. — Still beating about in the pool of water, 
 with foggy weather. Skinned the second penguin, which 
 also occupied me for four hours, from the benumbed 
 condition of the fingers in this cold climate. At 
 three p.m. another was caught. At six o'clock still 
 another, and I noticed a small flock of tern on a piece of 
 ice ahead. 
 
 Wednesday, 29///. — Foggy weather. I skinned the 
 penguin caught yesterday at three p.m. by Abernethy in 
 
v\ 
 
 Our Antantic llottl constructed of Ice. 253 
 
 four hours. Pebbles and half-digested fish were found in 
 the stomachs of all. 
 
 Thursday, ^ot/i. — Hot-air stove lighted to-day, which 
 filled my cabin with smoke. Six p.m. made fast to the 
 ice. 
 
 Friday, 31s/. — This being the last day of the old year, 
 great preparations have been in progress all day upon 
 the piece of ice forming a fender between the two ships, 
 one being made fast on either side, admitting a free 
 communication between them, for welcoming in the new 
 year and seeing the old one out. For this purpose a quad- 
 rangular space has been excavated in the ice for a dance, 
 albeit a somewhat novel kind of ball-room. On this an 
 elevated chair of the same material has been constructed 
 for the accommodation of both captains ; adjacent to this 
 crystal ball-room a refreshment-room has also been cut 
 out, with a table carved in the centre for the bottles of 
 wine and grog-glasses for the use of the dancers. The 
 whole of this sculptured ice almost rivals in hardness 
 and whiteness the finest Carrara marble. 
 
 Our worthy boatswain undertook to act the part of 
 Boniface on the occasion, and went through the character 
 in a most admirable manner ; but not rejoicing, as he 
 thought, in a sufficiently portly person himself for duly 
 supporting the new character he had assumed, he made 
 up the deficiency by stuffing a pillow beneath his waist- 
 coat, and in this guise, very much like a cropper pigeon, 
 strutted about with his hands in his shooting-jacket 
 pockets, an apron round his waist, a bunch of keys dang- 
 ling in front, inexpressibles buckled at the knees, which, 
 with a round cap jauntily tipped on the crown of his 
 head, completed his rig. Two of the younger seamen, 
 acting as his waiters, handed genuine ices on a tray all 
 round. 
 
 In front of this Antarctic hotel a sign-board was fixed 
 to a pole, having " Pilgrims of the Rhine" chalked on 
 
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254 
 
 / 'ojaj;vs of Discovery, 
 
 l^i«^ 
 
 one side, and " Pioneers of Science " on the other. 
 These devices were of the landh>rd's own suggestion. 
 A flag was unfolded to the breeze, guarded by a cannon 
 with a pile of shot alongside of it, all shaped out of the 
 frozen snow, with steps cut through the ice duwn to the 
 table. 
 
 Near the Terror's gangway a female figure in a sitting 
 posture was formed out of the snow, her head orna- 
 mented with a profusion of ringlets, and surmounted by 
 a card, on which was the word " Haide," though possibly 
 bearing small resemblance to the beautiful Greek girl, 
 the creation of Byron's imagination. In front of the 
 Ercbits's gangway was the bust of a male figure in a 
 foraging cap. 
 
 As the ships' bells stiuck the nautical number eight, 
 announcing the midnight hour, the frolic began ; the 
 new year being ushered in by three hearty cheers from 
 stentorian vocal organs, which stran;^ely broke in upon 
 the deathlike silence of the solitude reigning around. At 
 this very moment an ill-fated white petrel {Procellaria 
 nivc(i), like a phantom, white as the surrounding snow 
 itself in its purity, appeared as a herald borne on the 
 waves of ether, to announce the first hour of the morn in 
 the birthday of a new year. Poor little, confiding crea- 
 ture, it was destined to pay with its life for the curiosity 
 that fated it to become another victim to the claims of 
 science, for I happened to have my gun at hand, whilst 
 reclining on a solitary hummock of ice, not far from the 
 scene, and meditating on all that was enacting around 
 me, when the temptation proved too great for me to 
 resist the impulse to fire at it, and as it whirled round 
 and round, fell upon the ice in its descent, just as Captain 
 Ross himself appeared on the scene. I presented it to 
 him as the first victim to science in the new-born year ; 
 and, as such, he skinned and preserved it himself. Just 
 as I was about leaving the ice to turn in at three a.m., a 
 
» ' II 
 
 iWa' }'icir's Dinner in Captnin Rosss Cahin. 255 
 
 second bird, whether its mate or not I cannot tell, hovered 
 over, as its predecessor had done, and shared the same 
 fate, falling to my gun, as a nicincnto for myself of so 
 novel an advent of a new year on th(; confmes of the 
 Antarctic circle. Dancing and singing wound up the 
 whole, in which both captains joined. The day had been 
 overcast and gloorny, but unusually calm and mild, some 
 line snow even thawed as it fell. The ice close all around. 
 A barrier berg and another were seen In the north-east. 
 The other birds seen were two or three gigantic petrel, a 
 penguin or two, and one solitary stormy petrel. 
 
 Saturday, January \st, 18^2 — New Year's Day has 
 been ushered in by fine weather. The state of the ice the 
 same as yesterday, with several bergs in sight. This 
 forenoon a supply of Government clothing was issued to 
 the officers and ship's company gratis, consisting of a 
 box-cloth jacket and trousers, red guernsey frock, two 
 comforters, Welsh wig, pair of boat hose, five skeins of 
 thread of different colours, ten needles, and a sailor's 
 clasp-knife. 
 
 At four p.m. all the officers from both gun-room and 
 berth dined in the cabin with Captain Ross. The table 
 displayed such a bill of fare as was scarcely to have been 
 anticipated within the Antarctic circle, which, not a little 
 singular, we have crossed to-day, on the same day as last 
 year, in longitude 156° 28' W., therefore some 1400 miles 
 to the eastward of last year. We were regaled with roast 
 beef and mutton, roast goose, and mince-pies, delicious 
 preserves, gooseberry and cherry tarts, &c., were amongst 
 the dainties. Lieutenant Phillips and myself this evening 
 went up to the Ercbus's crow's-nest, or rather the main- 
 topm.ast cross-trees, to have a better view of the scene on 
 the deck beneath us. A fine lestris was hovering over 
 the Terror^s mast-heads at the time. I turned in at 
 three a.m. 
 
 i 
 
2 56 
 
 Voyages 0/ Discovery. 
 
 iu. 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Closely beset in the pack — Episode of tlie dying petrel — Animal 
 instinct— Twelfth-night — The Christmas Berg. 
 
 Monday, ^rd. — A fine day. The ice so closely packed 
 around us that it enabled me to walk in various directions 
 from the ship for at the least half a mile. My first shot 
 wa-^ at a gigantic petrel, breaking his wing, yet he gave 
 me such a chase over the ice before I could capture him, 
 that I had to stop his further progress with the contents 
 of my second barrel, and even then had some difficulty 
 in securing my prize, having to reach him with the aid of 
 a boat-hook from a sludgy piece of ice treacherous to 
 trust the feet upon. I am sorry to have to record here, 
 as I do reluctantly and with remorse, that I was the 
 cause of an instance of devotion and affection in the 
 animal creation, which, however interesting to the natu- 
 ralist as a study of animal life, was most painful to witness. 
 I happened to fire at a white petrel as it flew past me, 
 when it fell on a treacherous part of the floe. I lost it, 
 but its mate, flying in company with it at the time, 
 instantly alighted near the wounded bird, and placing its 
 own beak in juxtaposition with the dying creature's, 
 began a painful lamentation over its dying companion, 
 curving its own neck over the prostrate form, and giving 
 expression to a plaintive, murmuring, cackling note, 
 which it continued for some minutes, apparently evincing 
 the greatest amazement at the sudden change which had 
 
Rejlcciions on the dyincr PctrcL 
 
 -0/ 
 
 come over its dying mate ; but finding that all its atten- 
 tions were unheeded, then, as if acted upon by some 
 impulse or instinctive feeling impressing on its percep- 
 tion that this was death, and it could be of no further use, 
 it took wing and flew straight away. Whilst I was 
 endeavouring to get round the sludge-ice to pick the other 
 up, though ineffectually (for, as may be imagined, after this 
 little episode the bird would have had a double value for 
 my collection), the poor thing feebly raised its head, 
 after slowly staggering along the ice for a few paces, 
 apparently its last effort. 
 
 How ITttle do we know of animal life and mind ! for 
 mind they have unquestionably, call it instinct or what 
 you will. They are constructed on a very similar type to 
 their lordly master, man, consequently must necessarily 
 be endowed to a certain extent with his faculties. The 
 same brain and nerves, which in common with him render 
 them sentient beings, must also endow them with the 
 power of thought ; the main difference between them 
 arises from the want of language which he possesses as a 
 medium of communication. 
 
 What indeed is man, in his savage, untutored state, 
 but for the language he inherits, the superior of the lower 
 animals ? Many of these much-wronged and under- 
 estimated beings should make him blush, exhibiting, as 
 they often do, moral attributes of a high order, with 
 quite as much intelligence. Those whose opportunities 
 have afforded them the means of comparing man in his 
 primitive, savage condition with the most sagacious of 
 our own domesticated animals, the friends of man, like 
 the dog and others, will, I feel sure, bear me out in 
 this, although they may not be prepared to go so far with 
 me as to claim for these often-persecuted creatures a 
 " hereafter," of which, however, we certainly know nothing 
 to the contrary. We can all readily enough comprehend 
 the perishable nature of all material things, though the 
 
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 Foja^es of Discovery. 
 
 
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 atoms themselves remain ; but cannot so easily reconcile 
 to our reason the destructibility of a living principle, 
 whose very essence is immaterial, any more than we can 
 doubt the wisdom and benevolence of a great Creator of 
 all, by supposing that He has had so little of considera- 
 tion for creatures as much the work of His own handsas 
 man himself, consigned, as many of them are, to unmiti- 
 gated sufferings here, without any compensation or 
 reparation in the future. We trust that their case is not 
 so hopeless. Shrouded in mystery as this wonderful 
 principle of life may be, it is at least as inseparable 
 from space, time and eternity, as imperishable and ever- 
 lasting, as all matter and material tilings are evanescent 
 and transitory. 
 
 Wediicsdny, ^th. — A very fine day ; bright sun in a 
 clear blue sky. Abernethy caught at one p.m. to-day 
 a very fine large penguin, weighing seventy-five pounds. 
 
 Thursday, 6th. — We are drifting seven or eight miles a 
 day to the northward. We cast off from the ice, leaving 
 a cask on it containing a paper with all our signatures 
 and the latitude and longitude. A very pretty, darkly- 
 mottled young seal was caught this afternoon, having 
 a deep, old wound on its side, which had burst open 
 afresh ; the pain arising from this must have been 
 excruciating, for the poor creature was rendered so 
 irritable and fierce, that on reaching the deck it bit at 
 everything that came in its way, deck and ropes, so I 
 put an end to its sufferings by a thrust of the sword. A 
 thermometer placed in the wound gave a temperature of 
 1 00° Fahr. 
 
 This being " Twelfth Night," all the officers partook of 
 " Twelfth Cake," with cherry brandy, in Captain Ross's 
 cabin. On a signal being made to the Terror, Captain 
 Crozier came on board and joined us. It fell to my lot to 
 cut up the huge cake, and the junior mate, who sat next to 
 me, distributed the enclosed painted figures and enigmas 
 
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The Christmas Berg. 
 
 !59 
 
 all round, creating considerable amusement in our novel 
 situation. At eleven p.m. we passed our old acquaintance 
 the " Christmas Berg " on the port side ; and a very large 
 finner whale, seventy or eighty feet in length, passed very 
 near the ship ; the weather becoming thick with snow. 
 Wind E.S.E. ; thermometer 32°. 
 
 Friday^ "jth. — The large penguin of seventy-five 
 pounds took me five hours to skin to-day ; it was a 
 female, and had no less than three pounds of fish in 
 its stomach. 
 
 Monday, iph. — For the last ten days we have con- 
 tinued beset in the pack, sometimes boring through, and 
 at others beating about in pools of water, with inter- 
 changes of visits between the two ships. Our Christmas 
 Berg frequently in sight. Flocks of tern and white 
 petrel, with now and then a gigantic one, were seen, and 
 scarcely a day passed without a seal being caught, mostly 
 from nine to eleven feet in length — one was harpooned, 
 it weighed 644 pounds, and was nine feet in length. 
 On the 8th a penguin was caught, w'eighing sixty-four 
 pounds. But the Terror carries off the palm for having 
 caught the largest of all, weighing seventy-eight pounds. 
 Two finner whales, seventy to eighty feet in length, 
 passed close to the ship, having a large fin above the 
 water abaft, and humps forward. Both ships are now 
 made fast with hawsers to one of those heavy, table- 
 topped pieces of ice, rising from ten to twelve feet 
 above the sea, with perpendicular side'- -which, indeed, 
 have become a new feature in our Antarctic landscape — 
 the ships having a low piece of ice, forming a fender, 
 between their sides. To-day I took a sketch of the 
 Terror., from the stern boat. Between two and three 
 p.m., having shot half a dozen of the brown and white 
 petrel, on the port quarter-boat being lowered for me 
 to pick them up, to leeward, I had scarcely got into the 
 boat, when a silver-grey seal was seen on the ice, which 
 
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 260 
 
 yoya^es of Discovery. 
 
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 the junior mate and myself immediately went in pursuit 
 of ; and we secured our prize, by each of us planting a 
 harpoon in him, and then we towed him alongside of the 
 ship, but, unfortunately, during the interim, most of my 
 birds had drift'^c^ away amongst the ice and were lost, 
 having on) • bag^ ;d two of them ; but the seal was the 
 most valued desideratum. The pieces of ice to which we 
 were made fast ahead, rising and surging in the long 
 and heavy swell, occasioned by a strong breeze blowing, 
 imperilled our stern, which had a narrow escape from 
 coming in cuiUoion ulia the large, hard, table-topped 
 pieces this forenorn 
 
 Tuesday, i8i/i. — Soi.it 
 with a gloomy atw.o?.phere, 
 from the W.S.W., wit'* yrnc 
 Towards night it blew ver 
 
 fine 
 
 rain fell during the day, 
 ■'t'-* in a heavy, long swell 
 J^owers and a thick fog. 
 bai.", ..no throughout the 
 
 night the ship thumped and surged so heavily, occa- 
 sioning such a strain on the bow hawsers, that both 
 were carried away, and we consequently parted company 
 with the table-topped piece, leaving our ice-anchor on it, 
 both still holding on to the fender of ice between them. 
 This took place at four a.m. I found, upon going on 
 deck, that we were fast drifting down upon a large berg 
 on our port quarter, the white summit of which was barely 
 visible through the dense fog enveloping it, which seemed 
 to add in appearance to the vast magnitude of this 
 stupendous mass of frozen water, as it rose and fell in the 
 long, heavy swell, presenting the wildest and most threaten- 
 ing aspect that the most fertile imagination could con- 
 jure up. We only just escaped a fearful collision with it, 
 by making a press of all possible sail on both ships, so as 
 to increase their rate of drift, passing not more than 
 fifty or sixty yards to leeward of its steep, hard, washed, 
 blue-looking and perpendicular sides, which in places 
 were festooned with enormous icicles. It towered to the 
 height of not less than 200 feet above the sea. I took 
 

 Narroiv Escape from Collision ivith a large Berg, 261 
 
 a hasty sketch of it as we passed. A pair of brown and 
 white petrel, nestled close together, were apparently 
 slumbering on its summit, quite undisturbed and undis- 
 mayed by the elemental war raging around them. Cap- 
 tain Ross was on board of the Terror at the time. This 
 immense berg left an open pool in its wake, and not far 
 distant from us were two smaller bergs. The ice opened 
 more during the first watch, and some heavy masses 
 passed us, one but just clearing the Terror's bows. 
 
 IVednesujy, \gth. — The ship thumped heavily through- 
 out the night against the margin of the piece of ice, 
 shaking every timber of her framework, and producing 
 such a strain on rhe hawsers, as she surged in the heavy 
 swell, that we parted from one, and stranded the other ; 
 so that at 2.30 a.m. we were adrift, and had to make 
 sail under the top-sails, firing guns and muskets all the 
 morning, as fog-signals to our consort, to enable her to 
 keep company with us in the dense fog concealing 
 everything around. About nine a.m. passed within a 
 quarter of a mile of a large berg. Observed a strange, 
 blackish-looking petrel, and at seven p.m. we passed 
 close to the piece of ice with the two carcasses of seals 
 we left upon it, when we cast off from it this morning, 
 Rain in the first watch ; lat. 66° 18', long. 158° 38' ; ther- 
 mometer 38°, and wind N.W. 
 
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262 
 
 P'oyagcs of Discovery. 
 
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 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Vf 
 
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 A heavy gale — Waves of solid ice — Seals, whales, and penguins — Eight 
 hundred miles of the pack passed through— In the open again — 
 Shot a Icstris — A beautiful view of the great ice barrier — Highest 
 latitude reached. 
 
 Thursday, January 20th, was a day not soon to be 
 forgotten, while memory has the power of recalling 
 vivid impressions of the past. We were destined to wit- 
 ness one of the most extraordinary scenes perhaps that 
 ever occurred in the annals of navigation. We en- 
 countered a heavy gale of wind, little short of a West 
 India hurricane in its force, whilst beset in this vast and 
 close pack of ice. It was a heaving sea, with a long 
 swell, unprecedented in the Arctic seas. Each moun- 
 tain-wave was crested, not by spray and foam, but bore 
 on its summit huge masses of solid ice, hard as adamant, 
 intermingled with brash and debris, resulting from the 
 tremendous collision of ice with ice, in the combined 
 tumult of waters, both fluid and solid ; and notwith- 
 standing the enormous pressure of the ice borne on their 
 surface, some of these waves ran so high as frequently to 
 render the Terror s main-topsail yard barely visible above 
 them, when she fell into the trough between two of them, 
 scarcely half a mile ahead of us. Both ships had been 
 rolling heavily all through the preceding night, coming 
 so violently in collision with the ice, as to shake their 
 whole framework in such a way as to render it doubtful 
 whether their timbers, strongly put together as they were. 
 
Gale in the Pack. 
 
 26: 
 
 could much longer resist the fearful strain on them. 
 The swell appeared to come from the W.N.W., and the 
 ships' drift to S. by E. The Terror was under her main- 
 topsail on the cap. We were limited to the main-trysail, 
 and fore-staysail, backing and filling as requisite, to 
 clear the heavier pieces of ice, or by lowering the fore- 
 staysail and squaring the main-yard, to drop astern of 
 them. Then, again, forging ahead by dropping the fore- 
 sail, &c., the main-topsail hanging loose upon the cap. 
 Barometer at two p.m. 28° 49'. We passed perilously 
 close to some enormous hard masses, having white, table- 
 topped summits ten to twelve feet above the surface of 
 the sea, having a horizontal hollow line, in their perpen- 
 dicular sides, reflecting a beautiful cobalt-blue colour, and 
 vertically streaked with an appendage of white pendent 
 icicles, apparently resting on older ice as a basis, having 
 a pale, yellowish-brown colour at the water's edge, divided 
 by short pillars. Beneath the surface of the water, large 
 tongues of ice, having a convex upper surface, and 
 smooth, blue appearance, hard as the granite rock itself, 
 stretched out far beyond, on which the roaring surf broke. 
 Were a ship's bottom — her weakest part — to strike on 
 this, no human power could possibly preserve her from 
 instant destruction in a sea like this, with such a hurri- 
 cane raging around. We, indeed, passed in very close 
 proximity to one mass, of a rounded, hard, washed, blue 
 appearance, pitching, as it were, bows under, like a ship 
 going down, in the turmoil of waters raging around. 
 
 Fortunately for us there were none of the large bergs 
 in our line of drift, and only two far to leeward. Two 
 poor seals were quietly sleeping on a piece of ice ahead, 
 apparently, if not unconscious, indifferent to the turbulent 
 scene of the elements around them. A solitary black and 
 brown, and a white petrel or two, were now and then 
 seen hovering overhead in the height of the gale. The 
 sky itself presented one uniform, lurid, leaden colour ; the 
 
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 ^ii 'H 
 
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 \ 
 
 364 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 wind was from the N.N.W., and the barometer falling 
 all day ; snow in large flakes fell at intervals, and in the 
 afternoon the weather became thicker with fog. At 
 12.30 we drifted into a lane of open water. During the 
 last dog-watch the wind shifted round to the westward, 
 and the gale and swell both became much abated. 
 
 We had our rudder injured, and on exchanging signals 
 with the Terror^ learnt that hers was in a much worse 
 condition than our own ; made the signal to rendezvous 
 at the Falkland Islands, in the event of parting company. 
 The Terror^ as she rose on a sea, showed her copper 
 sheathing, very bright and polished from the scrubbing 
 it has sustained in her late collision with the ice. 
 
 At seven p.m. we passed a very beautiful young seal 
 of the large dark kind, reposing on a piece of ice not 
 ten yards from the port side of the ship. He was four 
 or five feet in length, blackish-brown above, hair short 
 and thick, crisp-looking underneath, grey, mottled with 
 black, both on flanks and flippers. The poor animal 
 seemed much astonished at his close proximity to the 
 ship, looking round him with a bewildered expression, 
 which was soon converted into fear and dread by the 
 laughing and noise on deck, and he at once set about 
 crawling off the ice, propelling himself along on his 
 chest, without making any use of his flippers, progressing 
 by curving in of his spine, thus shortening in his body as 
 a caterpillar would do, the hinder or tail flipper being 
 vertically closed, and passively stretched out on the ice. 
 On rolling off the ice into the sludge, he then made use 
 of his fore flippers in endeavouring to get upon another 
 piece of ice, but being unsuccessful, he rolled over on 
 his back and disappeared. 
 
 Thursday^ 27///. — The weather for the last week since 
 the gale has been gloomy, overcast, and threatening, 
 much heavy ice about, with lanes of open water, and 
 snow at intervals. We have had the carpenters of both 
 
 «' 
 
Copper Sheathing torn off the Boios. 
 
 26:; 
 
 ships at work, in making an entire new rudder for the 
 Terror, and repairing our own and other damages from 
 the gale in the pack. About nine p.m. to-day, seeing 
 two large penguins, apparently new species, on a piece 
 of ice ahead, I was very naturally desirous of securing 
 them for the government collection, and asked for a 
 boat to go and capture them ; but, unluckily for me, 
 Captain Ross being on board the Terror at the time, our 
 automaton first lieutenant, whose prestige, if he has any 
 at all, is more for holy-stoning decks in his morning watch 
 than in the paths of science, did not deem them worth 
 the trouble of lowering a boat for. Fortunately for the 
 Terror's credit, his brother- officer in that ship. Lieutenant 
 McMurdo, thought differently, and had a boat manned, 
 and a chase on the ice. Both the birds were secured, 
 when they turned out to be the young of the great pen- 
 guin, still in their grey, immature plumage, and as such 
 a highly interesting addition to the ornithological collec- 
 tion. One weighed thirty-seven and the other thirty-five 
 pounds. Just before we cast off from the piece of ice 
 to which both ships had been made fast, a large sheet of 
 copper sheathing was removed from our bows, torn off 
 in her recent struggle with the ice in the late gale, and 
 I had a piece of it cut out to preserve as r memento. 
 Lat. 67° 39', long. 1 55° 59', thermometer 34°, wind W.S.W. 
 A finner whale crossed our bowo the following morning. 
 
 Tuesday, February ist. — The weather cleared up, with 
 the first sight of the blue sky for some time past. Sailing 
 in open water, but ice closely packed around, with the 
 exception of to the southward and eastward ; wind light. 
 Saw three gigantic petrel nestled together on a piece of 
 ice, asleep. The latitude at noon was 67" 18', long. 
 158° 12', thermometer 30°. 
 
 During the first watch we were sailing through very 
 loose, small ice, with a very dark water-sky to windward, 
 indicating open water in that direction ; indeed, a faint 
 
 i 
 
 t/ I I '!i 
 
266 
 
 it 
 
 / 'oj'(r^(;c's of Discovery. 
 
 ■■ \ 
 
 \\ 
 
 \ . I 
 
 streak in the horizon perceptibly mari<ed out the line of 
 water, which, taken with the free, quick, and undulating 
 movement of the swell in short rolling waves, following 
 each other in rapid succession, so unlike the long, broad, 
 heavy-moving swell in the pack, produced there by the 
 weight of the superincumbent mass of ice, left no doubt 
 that we were now on the confines or margin of the pack. 
 To leeward there appeared over the pack and a chain 
 of large bergs a very bright ice-blink, so that before 
 dawn we shall be in all probability clear of the pack. 
 
 Wednesday, 2;"/. — We found ourselves at 2.30 a.m. 
 fairly out of this normous pack, in which we had been 
 beset since the i8th of last December, no less a period 
 than forty-six days. The breadth of the belt of ice we 
 have passed through may be fairly estimated at 800 
 miles. We entered it in the latitude of 62° 50', and in 
 the longitude of 147° 25'; and our observations at noon 
 to-day gave 67° 57' lat., and 160° 3' long. We are now 
 about 450 miles from the place where we entered the 
 pack. The average drift to the southward was some 
 ten miles a day. 
 
 Upon going on deck this morning I saw only one 
 solitary fragment of ice in the horizon, on the starboard 
 bow, bearing S.W. by W\ Being once more in such a vast 
 expanse of open water seemed quite a novel spectacle 
 to us, and through which we are going at the rate of 
 four knots , making a S. by W. course, with a fine fresh 
 westerly breeze and a swell from W.S.W. ; weather very 
 fine, with a few light fleecy clouds, floating along a clear 
 blue sky. Towards the close of the day the pack was 
 again seen, and at 6.30 p.m. we tacked off its edge, 
 which extended from the north in an easterly direction 
 to S.S.E., flanked by two long flat bergs; the ships sailing 
 amongst straggling bits of ice, one stormy petrel in sight. 
 At 1 1.30 p.m. I saw the first star, for some time past, 
 bearing W. half S. twenty degrees above the horizon, on 
 
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 was 
 
 dge, 
 ction 
 liling 
 ight. 
 past, 
 n, on 
 
 Pass the Jiighcst Latitude of Cook and H 'cddcll. 267 
 
 the \vcallKT-b()\v. I shot two brown and white petrel, 
 securing both by their falling on board. We carried 
 Mway our chain-bobstays against a piece of ice. Ther- 
 ometer 30°, wind W.S.W. 
 
 Thursday, 3/7/. — In a fine open sea till 4.15 p.m., when 
 we tacked within a mile of the pack-edge, which was here 
 flanked by seven large, table-topped bergs. It appeared 
 very close and heavy, extending from N.N.E. to S.E. 
 Saw a blue petrel in the first watch. The Terror had a 
 fire break out in her main-hatchway on Sunday last, but it 
 was speedily got under without any serious consequences. 
 
 Thursday, \oth. — The finest day we have had for some 
 time past ; for during the last week we had the thickest 
 fog, and heavy falls of snow, with frequent squalls, during 
 the voyage. Whilst sailing along the pack-edge, off 
 vhich we tacked at three p.m., at 10.30 p.m. I shot 
 lother brown and white petrel, which fell on the deck, 
 x'he sun set at 9.30 last night. 
 
 Saturday, 12th. — Early part of the day very fine, going 
 south. In the afternoon it came on thick and foggy, 
 with a considerable fall of snow. We passed the highest 
 latitude of Cook to-day, in the longitude of 179° 13' E. ; 
 many birds about us — the sooty and the black-backed 
 albatrosses, blue petrel, the brown and white, a Cape 
 pigeon, a gigantic petrel, a stormy petrel, and one solitary 
 white petrel, and a light-coloured one, having a black 
 patch on its head, I have not before seen ; most probably 
 an immature bird in change of plumage. 
 
 Tuesday, i^th. — Blowing a gale of wind all day, with 
 misty, thick weather : ship rolling heavily with her rigging 
 thickly coated with ice. This day we passed Weddell's 
 farthest south, and have consequently now only ourselves 
 to beat in our first voyage. Our latitude at noon to-day 
 was 74° 26', long. 182°. 
 
 Friday, iSth. — Whilst sitting at breakfast this morning, 
 the quarter-master of the watch came down to the gun- 
 
 ■I . 
 
 I ■(' 
 
268 
 
 Jsi H 
 
 I ^oyages of Discovery. 
 
 r i 
 
 !-a J 
 
 I ;t 
 
 I -1 
 
 room to tell me that a lestris was hovering over the 
 mast-head, and I lost not a moment in reaching the deck, 
 gun in hand, and shot it, when luckily it fell into the boat 
 astern — a splendid specimen and a new species or variety, 
 like the one I shot on Possession Island last year ; and 
 the only pair I have been able to obtain, so scarce is it ; 
 yet a bold, piratical bird, quite capable of defending 
 itself against any feathered foe ; hence I christened it 
 the " Rover of the South Pole." I shot four white petrel, 
 three of which fell on board, and were added to the 
 collection, but the fourth and last fell overboard, and 
 consequently was lost. A great number of the brown 
 and white petrel were about the ship to-day, also three 
 or four Diomedia fuliginosa, a Proccllaria gtgantea, a 
 tern, and a pair of stormy petrel ; the latter, so unusual 
 with them, flying higher than the mast-head in their 
 evolutions to leeward, as they are usually seen skimming 
 in the wake of the ship, occasionally sweeping round the 
 sides. The blue petrel have now left us. We sounded 
 to-day in 300 fathoms, green mud, a bright ice-blink in 
 the horizon extending from E. by N to W. Chiefly 
 making eastern, to-day cleared up fine, with a fresh 
 breeze. Lat. 76° 52', long. 178°, thermometer 25°. 
 
 Saturday y igth. — Sounded in 240 fathoms ; white 
 petrel very numerous this evening, and I shot three, two 
 falling on board and one overboard. On skinning the 
 lestris I found a ball of penguin feathers in its stomach, 
 a convincing proof, were any needed, of its predatory 
 habits, and also its power to destroy such stron'g, mus- 
 cular, vigorous, and horny-feathered birds as the pen- 
 guins. Lat. 76" 41', long. 173° 48', thermometer 33''. 
 
 Monday y 21st. — It blew a very heavy gale of wind last 
 night, the ship rolling heavily. At four p.m. we tacked 
 ship off the pack-edge, and at five p.m. wore ship, crossing 
 the Terror's bows rather close in doing so. Her sides 
 were completely encased in ice, and our own bows and 
 
 !>■• 
 
^ TV 
 
 Sight the Great Barrier again. 
 
 269 
 
 bowsprit presented a dense mass of crystallization. 
 The force of the wind in the height of the gale during 
 the night was ten ; the barometer falling nearly as low 
 as 28°. 
 
 Tuesday, 22nd. — Passed several bergs and heavy 
 pieces of ice during the day, and at six p.m. sounded in 
 190 fathoms, green mud and small black stones. Avery 
 bright ice-blink along the horizon from east to south ; 
 and about midnight we again came in sight of our old 
 friend the Great Barrier to leeward, extending from south 
 to east. It presented a more undulating summit outline 
 than last year, having intervals forming bights between. 
 One remarkable abutment, or promontory, at the entrance 
 to a bay or inlet, bore a striking resemblance to the one 
 where we made the nearest approach to it last season. 
 Several bergs were lying in front of this huge perpen- 
 dicular wall of ice, one certainly not less than three miles 
 in length. We passed through a number of streams of 
 young ice of a yellowish-brown colour, but of the pancake 
 form, very thick, from a foot to three or four in diameter. 
 The night, though cloudy, was fine and free from mist. 
 On the weather-bow a group of clouds might easily have 
 been mistaken for distant high land. The ship was 
 going at five knots before the wind under studding-sails, 
 with a fresh breeze. Thermometer 27°, lat. 76° 42', 
 long. 165° 50'. 
 
 Wednesday , I'^rd. — At one a.m. passed a large piece 
 of ice, having two black points of rock projecting from its 
 side. At '^.30 a.m. I shot a wnite petrel, which fell on 
 deck. The birds are now unusually scarce and shy — a 
 penguin or two, sooty albatross, gigantic petrel, white 
 petrel, and brown and white. Turned in at five a.m. 
 within four or five leagues of the barrier, having remained 
 on deck all through the first and middle watches to see 
 all I could of the barrier. Upon going on deck again at 
 nine a.m. the barrier was astern, the ship having been put 
 
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 2;o 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 about at 6.30 a.m. The morning was fine, with a bright 
 sun and fresh breeze. Saw a whale blowing. At 
 1.40 p.m. we tacked, and stood towards the barrier on an 
 E.N.E. course, passing through a great deal of young 
 ice, and close to a large berg. At seven p.m. we hove- to 
 off the face of the barrier, with the ship's head to the 
 north-west, about two miles from a promontory in it, 
 bearing east, and got soundings in 290 fathoms, fine 
 green mud and stones. 
 
 Whilst the line was running out I seated myself in- the 
 stern-sheets of the boat, on the port-side of the quarter- 
 deck, to take a sketch of one of the most novel and extra- 
 ordinary scene^^ I, or any one else, ever witnessed. The 
 day was cloudless, a bright sun in a clear blue sky, the 
 rays of which, falling on the barrier, gave a beautiful effect 
 to its steep, indented sides, the various angles and abut- 
 ments of which stood boldly out in relief, alternately in 
 light and shade, forming a long, zigzag, perpendicular 
 wall of ice, upwards of 100 feet in height, extending from 
 S. 40 W. to N. 21 W. Along its base numerous frag- 
 ments of ice, of every form and size, were scattered or 
 piled together in the wildest confusion, in many places 
 appearing as if quarried out, leaving recesses in these 
 stupendous cliffs, hollowed out by the terrific power of 
 those heavy seas which gales of wind have set in motion 
 when sweeping over the vast and mighty surface of the 
 scuthern ocean, the sea in front of the barrier being covered 
 with young ice of the pancake pattern, and amongst which 
 the ship was hove-to. The extreme of the barrier to 
 the right had the horizon studded with bergs, both large 
 and small, resembling, as the sun's light fell upon them, 
 so many white marble buildings in the distance. To 
 the left a huge berg had posted itself in solitary grandeur 
 in front of the barrier, inside of which we passed at 
 7.15 p.m., in again making sail, and ran along the latter 
 at about a league distant, forcing our way through vast 
 
.vitb t! 
 
 *%s^^P^ C- 
 
 en above the lower end of it, on the first voyage south. 
 
 Vincent Brooks, Day ft Son, Uth. 
 PAne j70"VnL. I. 
 
 
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K. McCormick. R.N.. del 
 
 «*«^.^-?? 
 
 R. McCormick. R.N.. d*!. 
 
 The Barrier in 78® 10' S., 7 miles distant, the highest latitude 
 
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 The Great Barrier ^ritb the pack resting on its eastern extremity and two bergs lying off it, as seen in the first voyage south, i 
 
 ■^ Cliff of the Barrid 
 
 
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 ant, the highest latitude attained in the second Voyage, February, 1842. 
 
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 [, as seen in the first voyage, south. 
 
 ■^ Cliff of the Barrier Bifiht. 
 
 Wn" '1 
 
 
 
 K. McCormick, R.N., del. 
 
 The Christmas Berg with the " Terror's " mastheads s« 
 
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 •• Terror's " mastheads seen above the lower end of it, on the first voyage south. 
 
 Vincent Brooks, Day & Soi^ Litk. 
 
 PAGB 870— VOL. I. 
 
Highest Latitude attained and Barrier Jiig/it. 2 y i 
 
 quantities of thick, pancake ice, which became thinner and 
 thinner as we increased our distance. Saw two or three 
 small penguins on it, rising and falling with its waving 
 motion. 
 
 Just as we had made sail our consort, the Terror, which 
 we had run nearly hull down, came up with us, and went 
 about close under our stern. Our latitude here was 
 78" 7', the Terror making it 78° 9', so that taking the 
 mean of the two observations, would place the face of the 
 barrierin 78^ 8', long. 161° 27', and that we have attained 
 about some half a dozen miles higher latitude than last 
 season, our farther progress towards the Pole being 
 checked by the barrier. About 1 30 miles further to the 
 eastward the summit of the barrier could be seen from 
 the mast-head, looking like a vast plain of ice in one direc- 
 tion, having much the appearance of land in the distance. 
 During the first watch the white and brown and white 
 petrel were very numerous, flying about the ship. I shot 
 three from this most interesting locality, all of which I 
 was so fortunate as to have fall on board, the last one, and 
 the best specimen, at 11.30 p.m. I had also a shot at 
 one of the largest kind of stormy petrel as it was fly- 
 ing over the mast-head, but missed it. Saw a Proccllaria 
 gigantea, a Diomedia fiiliginosa, a small penguin, and a 
 seal or two on the ice. 
 
 At 10.30 p.m. the sun set in a beautiful red and purple 
 horizon astern of us. The sky altogether presented an 
 extraordinarily beautiful, yet wild aspect, the lovely blue 
 being mottled in many places with fine red clouds. This 
 has been fortunately the finest day of the season. Lat. 
 at noon 77° 49', long. 162° 35', thermometer 29", wind 
 W. to N. by E., dip and var. = ^. I turned in a little 
 after midnight. Hove-to eastward of the Barrier Bight. 
 
 Thursday, 2\th. — This morning, on my going upon 
 deck, I found that we were standing to the northward 
 under a press of canvas, studding-sails low and aloft, 
 
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 Voya/^es of Discovery. 
 
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 .,'ii 
 
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 and royals. About 10.30 a.m. the weather suddenly 
 changed, becoming overcast, with heavy squalls, which 
 soon reduced us to our top-sails, and a reef in them, 
 running along the edge of the stream ice. I saw a 
 lestris in full chase of a brown and white petrel. Last 
 evening a cask containing a paper with the latitude and 
 longitude and signatures of all the officers was thrown 
 overboard. 
 
 Saturday, 26///. — An " ice-blink " all along the horizon 
 to leeward, indicating the situation of the pack. We 
 have been passing through large streams of ochreous- 
 brown-coloured ice, covering the water with a film, thickly 
 studded with small fragments, having the under-surface 
 of an iron-rust colour, the undulations of the water giving 
 it the appearance of oil in motion. To-day I saw an ash- 
 backed petrel for the first time within the Antarctic Circle, 
 and a second one in the evening, with a solitary Cape pigeon. 
 
 Monday, 28///. — Fine day. Bergs numerous ; we must 
 have passed at the least a hundred large and small, some 
 of them very large ones. A whole cluster of them passed 
 us in the evening, sailing through thick streams of 
 young pancake ice. At six p.m. running along the 
 pack-edge, about a league distant, with many bergs 
 posted along its margin, with others all round the horizon. 
 During the latter part of the first watch and the com- 
 mencement of the middle one the night was very dark, 
 although but three or four days ago it was broad day- 
 light throughout the twenty-four hours. When off the 
 barrier, lat. 70° 54'. long. 175° 36'. 
 
 Tuesday, March \st. — Passed several large bergs; 
 sketched one, with numerous caverns in it. Snow in the 
 evening. Running along pack-edge. 
 
 Friday, \th. — It blew a fresh gale last night, ship 
 rolling heavily. The blue petrel have made their appear- 
 ance again in considerable numbers, with a few Cape 
 pigeon. Sea clear of ice. 
 
im 
 
 Ruuniiii^ doion Longitude to ''Line of Intensity.^' 273 
 
 Monday, 1th. — Crow's-nest got down yesterday, as we 
 have recrossed the Antarctic Circle, and no bergs or 
 ice in sight, so that the white petrel, a true ice-bird, 
 have all left us. 
 
 Thursday, \oth. — Last night was beautifully clear and 
 starlight. The Southern Cross appeared high in the 
 zenith, having a very bright appearance. I dined in the 
 cabin with Captain Ross to-day, and we had a fine roast 
 goose for dinner, notwithstanding we have been upwards 
 of 100 days at sea. About midnight, on quitting the 
 cabin and going on deck, I saw a fine, large, perfectly 
 flat-topped barrier berg, upwards of a mile in length. 
 Lat. 68' 18', long. 156° 7'. We have ceased now to alter 
 our latitude materially, our object being to run down our 
 longitude to the " line of intensity," in about 125°, and in 
 the latitude of 60°. 
 
 Saturday, 12///. — Weather gloomy, with drizzle during 
 the day ; night squally and thick ; thermometer 36°, wind 
 northerly, lat. 60° 12', long, 147" 25'. 
 
 
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 VOL. I. 
 
2 74 
 
 / '())uij[;cs of Discovery. 
 
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 CHAPTER XXV [. 
 
 Collision with llic Terror off the icebergs— Our perilous situation — 
 Our shi[) all but cripijled — Claptain Ross's self-possession — 
 Doubling Cape Horn — Loss of a sailor — Land in sight — Hog 
 Island. 
 
 A Fl';\V minutes after I had turned in, and not long after 
 the first watch had been relieved by the middle one, 
 about one o'clock in the morning, I heard an unusual stir 
 on deck over my head. The hurried tread of the watch 
 at once suggested to my mind that something was going 
 wrong ; and, whilst listening in doubt as to the cause, the 
 voice of the officer of the watch calling down the main- 
 hatchway to "Turn all hands up," became very audible. 
 It now at once occurred to me that we were about run- 
 ning into an iceberg, as they had been far too numerous 
 of late in our course to render such a catastrophe at all 
 unlikely. After hurrying jH only a portion of my clothes, 
 I had but just reached tl e top of the companion-ladder 
 to the quarter-deck, when I was all but hurled to the 
 bottom of it by a shock we received, not from an ice- 
 berg, indeed, but from our consort the Terror falling 
 across our bows. 
 
 On my gaining the deck what a scene met the eye ! 
 First, the massive hull of the Terror surging heavily in 
 the swell on our starboard-bow, carrying away our bow- 
 sprit, and with it our fore-topmast; whilst, above all, 
 towered through the mist of a dark, gloomy night, the 
 stupendous form of an enormous iceberg, whose perpen- 
 
 ■J. 
 
C(>//ision with llic " Terror" 
 
 = 75 
 
 cliculiir adamantine* sides loomed in terrilic ^Mandi-ur hi^h 
 ab()V(! our mast-heads, and threatened both ships with 
 instant destruction, our own more especially, from the 
 tangled wreck of spars, sails, and ri^'j^nntj hamperinj^ us 
 forward, which for the moment rendered our position a 
 most lu'lpless oiu.' ; a moment of one's life, indeed, never 
 to he for<;otten, as the two ships' sides were furiously 
 •grinding against each other in the heavy sea th.it was 
 running, blowing as it did, at the time, a hard gale 
 of wind. 
 
 Our consort, as she rose above the surging swell, 
 showed her bright copper sheathing, and the greater 
 portion of her keel, above our gunwale ; at one n'.oment 
 appearing as if her massive hull itself would come on 
 board of us, and the next moment, in her descent, as we 
 surged upwards, both hulls met together in fearful col- 
 lision, but most fortunately in the encounter the yards 
 of the ships escaped entanglement. The Terror, having 
 recc-ived no injury to her spars and rigging, when her 
 sails fdled shot ahead, and, by way of a parting farewell, 
 bounced her heavy stern into our starboard quarter- 
 boat, crushing it like a nutshell, as she disappeared in 
 the surrounding darkness and gloom, like a phantom 
 of ill. 
 
 No sooner had we got clear of one danger than we 
 
 were approaching another, of a far more threatening 
 
 character. With all our head-sails a cumbrous wreck, 
 
 ere fast closing in with the berg, its lofty, over- 
 
 ijjing crest, frowning destruction, as it loomed over the 
 
 trucks of our mast-head, and the ship drifting within 
 
 I..- surf so angrily, surging around its hard-washed base. 
 
 Reduced to such a helpless login close proximity to such 
 
 an enemy as we were, our narrow escape seemed indeed 
 
 truly miraci ns. The rebound of the waves, or in 
 
 nautical lai ige the under-tow, from the granite-like 
 
 wall of ic \e saved us, humanly speaking, from being 
 
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 276 
 
 Voyages of Discovery, 
 
 dashed to fragments against the smooth, hard, polished 
 blue sides of the berg. 
 
 ]5y a perilous stern-board, through foam and surf dashing, 
 Our yard-arms with the berg's frowning sides all but clashing, 
 With the under-tow receding alone we are saved, 
 To be on memory's tablet for ever engraved. 
 
 At such a perilous crisis a captain's position is assuredly 
 not one to be envied, the responsibility is an awful one. 
 We had no room to wear ship, the only alternative was 
 making a stern-board, a hazardous one, in the sea that was 
 running, and justifiable only by the circumstances of our 
 position. However, Captain Ross was quite equal to the 
 emergency, and, folding his arms across his breast, as he 
 stood like a statue on the afterpart of the quarter-deck, 
 calmly gave the order to loose the main-sail. His whole 
 bearing, v.'liilst lacking nothing in firmness, yet betrayed 
 both in the expression of his countenance and attitude, 
 the ail-but despair with which he anxiously watched the 
 result of this last and only expedient left to us in the 
 awful position we were placed in. This feeling, I believe, 
 pervaded all ; as but for the howling of the winds, and 
 the turmoil of the roaring waters, the falling of a pin 
 might have been heard on the Erebus' s deck, so silent 
 and awestruck stood our fine crew in groups around, await- 
 ing the result. So sudden was the collision that there 
 was scant time for dressing, and an officer might have 
 been seen cli'iging to the capstan in his nightshirt onl)-. 
 
 1 had myself seen much service in our old class of 
 corvettes, very deep-waisted ships, frequently over- 
 masted, with a great spread of canvas, rendering them 
 very ticklish craft to wear in a heavy sea, from their decks 
 holding so much water between their high bulwarks, 
 should they get too much sternway on them. I fully 
 realized all the perils of the mancjeuvre of a stern-board 
 in such a sea as this, with tht; addition of another element 
 of danger, icebergs, in our drift ; so that when the order 
 
==S! 
 
 ^ 
 
 Rtmnivg tlic ganutlct bc/zuccn iioo Bergs, 277 
 
 was given to loose the main-sail, instinctively alive to our 
 dangerous position, I flew to the main-tack, being the 
 first to lay hold of it, followed by a lot of our fine fellows, 
 by whom it was hauled sharp a-hack with a will. The 
 good old ship soon gathered sternway, and, as Fenimore 
 Cooper humorously has It in the " Red Rover," began 
 " ploughing the waves with her taffrail," meantime 
 brushing the huge sides of the berg with our lower yard- 
 arms till we reached its western extremity. 
 
 Here we encountered another large berg, lying athwart 
 the course of our drift, and on which we were dropping ; 
 and we had to get the ship's head round as well as we 
 could, by means of the after-sails still available. Our 
 situation now became a very critical one, with the loom 
 of a third berg on the other side of us. At this moment, 
 as I was looking aft, I saw our Ice-master, Abernethy— 
 one of the most experienced icemen of our day, who had 
 been in the old Hecla with me in Parry's attempt to 
 reach the North Pole, ever vigilant and on the watch — 
 extended full length on the ice-plank, with his gaze 
 Intently fixed on the berg, when suddenly he reported to 
 Captain Ross an opening between the two bergs, through 
 which we were soon running before the wind, Providence 
 thus directing our course through this narrow, surf-beaten 
 strait, little wider than our own ship's length, none too 
 soon before the meeting of the two bergs, which were 
 rapidly approaching each other. As it was we passed so 
 close to the vertical sides of the bergs that the foam and 
 spray I felt rebound In my face, with such force as nearly 
 to arrest the act of breathing when looking over the 
 quarter. 
 
 Having run the gauntlet between these two giant bergs 
 we emerged in the open sea beyond, and through the 
 murky gloom of night, the Terror s light, all at once, 
 burst upon us at some distance ahead, hove-to under the 
 lee of a berg ; she having very suddenly disappeared 
 
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 278 
 
 Voycxgcs of Discovery. 
 
 after getting clear of us, must have, after her sails filled, 
 instantly dashed through the same channel which 
 afforded us an exit at least half an hour later, during 
 which, our light having been extinguished from her view 
 by the group of bergs within the circle of which we had 
 been enclosed, they had been under the impression we 
 had gone to pieces under the berg, where she parted 
 from us. And short indeed would have been the work 
 had we been fated to come into collision with its 
 adamantine sides. 
 
 At daylight the bergs were just visible, about five in 
 number, forming a chain. I turned in again about 
 three a.m., and upon going on deck after breakfast on 
 the morning of the 1 3th I saw our anchor sticking in the 
 ship's side, under the fore-chains, and beneath the surface 
 of the sea, where it had doubtless been driven by the 
 Terror s hull, sledge-hammer fashion, and now remains, 
 with both its flukes embedded to the depth of our 
 doubling, a thickness of eight-inch planking ; all the 
 filling-up work on the starboard bow and rail above 
 the gunwale knocked away. 
 
 Monday, 14///.— Last night we got a new bowsprit 
 rigged out, and it being dark and misty, the ships at 
 eleven p.m. lay-to for the night. To-day we passed 
 several bergs, some blue petrel, and several sooty and 
 black-backed albatrosses ; also a black and white long- 
 pointed-wing bird in the distance, resembling the sheer- 
 water or skimmer. On the following day we got up a 
 new fore-topmast, and a topsail yard, setting the fore-top- 
 sail. Passed several bergs. Our other damages from 
 the collision were, gig destroyed, first cutter stove in, 
 with the loss of a six-pound mortar and the life-buoy. 
 
 Friday, iSf/i — At 5.15 p.m. the bower-anchor, which 
 has been sticking in the ship's side for the last six days, 
 and which we have been so carrying for some 700 miles, 
 was observed to work about, and on getting a spar 
 
A Man overboard doubling Cope Horn. 279 
 
 wedged against it, it was cleared from the ship's side, 
 and sunk in deeper w'ater than it had ever been in 
 before. 
 
 Saturday, \gf/i. — At 3.30 a.m. a berg was reported 
 ahead, bearing N.W. by N., and all hands turned up. 
 Upon going on deck I found it broad on the starboard 
 (weather) bow. It was blowing a fresh gale, with a heavy 
 sea running, and misty weather. Having wore ship, we 
 burnt two blue lights to warn the Terror, on our weather 
 beam, of her danger. Passed near to another berg dur- 
 ing the day, and I saw the first little petrel during the 
 voyage. It was swimming within shot on the port beam, 
 and dived as the ship passed it. At 9.30 p.m. we rounded- 
 to on the starboard tack, the night being dark and thick, 
 blowing a gale of wind, with a long heavy sea running 
 and the chance of running into bergs before they could 
 be seen in time to avoid them. Indeed, so anxious a 
 time was it, that very few of the ship's company turned 
 in for the night ; lat. 60'^ 2', long. 1 18° 55'. 
 
 Wednesday, 23/7/. — On the lineof uniform temperature, 
 and Beauchene Island in sight, after our having been 
 out of sight of land for the long space of 136 days. 
 
 Saturday, April 2nd. — For the last ten days we have 
 been much favoured by the moonlight nights and fair 
 winds, often going before it under a press of canvas, 
 studding-sails low and aloft. Some time this morning 
 we doubled the much celebrated Cape Horn, but owing 
 to a sudden shift in the wind during the night, we 
 passed at too great a distance from it to get a sight of 
 it. The fresh gale and heavy, breaking sea, reminded 
 us that we were in its traditionary stormy vicinity ; and 
 unfortunately, at 1.45 p.m., whilst taking in a reef in the 
 main-sail, we were destined to meet with a painful 
 remembrance of it, in the loss of one of our poor fellows 
 overboard — Angelly, a steady, good old quartermaster 
 of the watch, who, as he was stepping from tht; yard, 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 ml 
 
 slipped and fell, rolling down the main-rigging, and 
 striking against the gunwale in his descent ; the sound 
 of which I heard, although in my cabin below at the time;. 
 
 On my reaching the deck and looking over the stern, 
 I saw him clinging to the life-buoy, which had been let 
 go, and which he had almost instantly reached by swim- 
 ming. Abernethy, ever the foremost in all emergencies, 
 was already in the port quarter-boat, with a volunteer 
 crew, all ready for lowering. But Captain Ross, deeming 
 it impracticable for a boat to live in the sea that was 
 running, wore the ship round, with the intention of pass- 
 ing close enough to Angelly for a rope to be thrown him ; 
 but unhappily the ship fell off before reaching him, 
 though only a cable's length to windward. We tacked 
 at 2.40 p.m., and in ten minutes we fetched the life- 
 buoy, passing to windward of it very close. But the 
 poor fellow was no longer on it. Nothing but the two 
 breakers, with the small red flag waving over them, of 
 which, only a few days previously, the buoy had been con- 
 structed, were now to be seen. Doubth'ss he had sunk 
 exhausted and benumbed with cold in the heavy sea, in 
 the interval taken up by the board we were compelled to 
 make. This is the third of our crew lost by drowning 
 since our departure from England ; so unlucky has this 
 ship been through accidents, for a fourth was suffocated 
 in a tank in the hold at Ilobart Town. Yet not a single 
 death has occurred from disease or sickness, throughout 
 the voyage. Several Cape petrel both hovered and swam 
 round the buoy, as it drifted by us ; as if singing a last 
 sad requioii over the sailor's c^rave. Soon afterwards 
 the sea rapidly went down, ei 'ng in an evening of 
 drizzling rain. Lat. 57° 25', long. 67° 36'. 
 
 Sunday, yd. — Saw a chionis for the first time since 
 our departure from Kerguelen's Land. It was hovering 
 over the mast-heads. The ash-backed and the Cape 
 petrel very numerous. At 6.30 p.m. blowing a fresh 
 
Bcmichenc Island and East Fallclaudin si o lit. 2S1 
 
 gale; passed a brig on our port beam, standing to the 
 S.W. We showed a light, which she answered by a 
 light astern. This is the first sail we have seen for 
 upwards of four months. The night set in dark with 
 drizzling rain. On the following day I saw two more 
 ehionis ; wounded both, and lost both, which was to be 
 regretted ; I believed them to be a different species from 
 that of Kerguelen's Land. To-day the birds about us 
 have been numerous, skimming in the wake, or wheeling 
 round us. Cape pigeon, ash-backed petrel, giant pet''el, 
 stormy petrel, black-backed albatross, and several wan- 
 dering albatrosses {Diomedia cxulciis). Cloudy, but 
 bracing day, with a fiery breeze, and lump of a sea 
 running, squalls, and showers of rain— altogether a wild- 
 looking day. Black clouds chasing each other over 
 the blue sky, with a yellowish-red glare in the horizon, 
 the fiery breeze scattering the foaming crests of the 
 waves with a smoke-like spray. 
 
 Tuesday, ^tli. — I was aroused from my sleep a little 
 before three a.m. with the report of land in sight. I saw 
 Beauchene Island on the weather (port bow), bearing 
 N.N.E., about three leagues distant. It was one of the 
 most lovely mornings w^e have experienced during our 
 long voyage. Soon after six the sun rose in a clear blue 
 sky ; the water smooth, although there was a fresh 
 breeze, the ship being under her studding-sails, low and 
 aloft, going about seven knots ; a number of fish leaping 
 out of the water, and birds numerous. Albatrosses 
 and petrel, with a solitary ehionis and lestris, flew past 
 the ship ; whilst whole squadrons of cormorants came 
 off from the islands, wheeling around us several times in 
 their habitual prying, curious manner. 
 
 About 2.30 p.m. the mainland of East Falkland rose 
 like a faint cloud in the horizon to windward. It was a 
 n>ost charming day, like a midsummer one, to our feelings ; 
 thermometer 44°, lat. 52° 36', long. 58" 42'. At eight 
 
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282 
 
 Voyas^cs of Discovery. 
 
 :* 
 
 p.m. sounded in thirty-eight fathoms. Beauchene Island 
 was the first land \vc had seen for the last four months 
 and upwards. We have now been between four and five 
 months without seeing land. 
 
 Wednes(hiy, April 6tli. — Beating up for Berkeley 
 Sound, with a fresh breeze and thick weather, passing 
 many patches of seaweed. After rounding a point in 
 very thick fog, we passed Hog Island at four p.m. The 
 land here has much the aspect of the Shetlands or the 
 Orkneys, in undulating slopes of brownish-green peat, and 
 interspersed with tufts of the tussac grass. We came to 
 an anchor in five fathoms at 5.10 p.m., off a small creek 
 near the settlement, about two miles distant. The small 
 Government-house is indicated by a flagstaff, having an 
 adjacent store-house and long peat-roofed shed. As we 
 came up the sound, saw a troop of the wild horses of the 
 island. 
 
 ! * 
 
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28' 
 
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 CHAPTER XXVH. 
 
 The Falkland Islands — Promotion to all except the medical officers-- 
 A shooting excursion — Natural history of the islands— The place 
 described — Bullock-hunting — Bl.ick-necked swans. 
 
 JVednesday, April 6ih. — On scndiii':^ a boat on shore to 
 the governor's, Lieutenant Moody of the Engineers, a 
 Navy List, with the promotions of some of the officers of 
 the expedition, was brouglit on board ; gratifying to thos(i 
 whose services have met with such prompt acknowledge- 
 ment for our great discoveries, as it was disappointing to 
 those left out in the cold. For although all the senior exe- 
 cutives, eligible for advancement, received a step in rank, 
 the senior medical officers of their department were, as 
 usual, left out, and their services ignored, notwithstand- 
 ing they had extra duties to perform, natural history, in 
 addition to their professional routine. 
 
 Friday, %t!i. — Squally and showerv. At five p.m. I 
 landed at the Government Creek for the first time, and 
 on the following morning, Saturday, 9th, weighed at 5.40, 
 and warped the ship in shore, opposite the pond, above 
 Government House. The secretary brought me a note 
 from the governor, and I landed with him; had an interview 
 with the governor, and returned on board at four p.m. 
 
 Monday, wtli. — At nine a.m. I landed on a shooting 
 excursion, calling upon the governor on my way. I 
 reached St. Salvador Bay at noon. Found rabbits 
 numerous on the low sandbanks skirtinsr the beach. Sli(jt 
 
 W I 
 
284 
 
 Vflyi\Qxs of Discovery. 
 
 
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 nine, black and white in colour. I saw a number of the 
 island geese, steamer-ducks, hawks, thrushes, and sand- 
 pipers. Started on my return at 3.30 p.m. ; shooting a 
 few birds on my way back — a hawk, four thrushes, and, 
 from the boat, a male upland-goose ; saw only one snipe. 
 St. Salvador Bay is about four miles distant ; I got on 
 board at six p.m. Day gloomy, and night with rain. 
 
 Sunday, 1 7///.— Captain Gardener, R.N., the missionary 
 from Patagonia, arrived here in a schooner. 
 
 Tuesday, \gth. — Gloomy day. At nine a.m. I landed 
 in the cutter at Hog Island, a long and narrow strip of 
 land, boggy in the centre, and belted with the tussac 
 grass, growing in tufts, close together, five or six feet in 
 height, along the cliffs bordering the sea. The rocks on 
 the beach are composed of clay-slate and quartz, strati- 
 fied at a considerable angle. The island is separated 
 from the mainland by a fordable creek. I shot a heron 
 and two chionis, and, as I had anticipated, the latter 
 proved to be a different species to the Kerguelen's Land 
 one. I also shot eight cormorants at one shot, which, 
 with a duck, made up my game-bag. A party of gauchos 
 had been lassoing cattle, seven out of a herd of 135, of 
 all sizes, ages, and sex — from the old bull and cow to 
 the young calf. After throwing the bolas round the 
 animal, they cut the ham-strings and then the throat. I 
 returned on board about four p.m. ; and at six p.m. dined 
 with the governor at Government House; met Cap- 
 tain Gardener, and Captains Ross and Crozier there. I 
 left at 9.30 p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, 27///. — Dined in the cabin with Captain 
 Ross to meet the governor (IJeutenant Moody), Captain 
 Gardener, and Captain Crozier ; also the governor's 
 secretary. 
 
 Monday, May gtli. — Left the ship at 9.35 a.m., in the 
 seal-skin punt, and pulled myself across the sound in 
 thirty-five minutes fcom our little jetty. Fine calm morn- 
 
1 I 
 
 Remarkable Stone Streams of the Falklands. 2S5 
 
 iii<^. Hauled the boat up on tlie beach, where I shot three 
 black oyster-catchers, and crossed a creek to the southern 
 ridge of hills. Reached the summit at two i).m. : here I 
 shot a rabbit and two black hawks. Saw a troop of a 
 score of wild horses : they scampered off at a great rate, 
 accompanied by three or four foals, making a curve 
 round the base of the hill in single file. On my return, 
 at 2.30 p.m., I came across them again, when they moved 
 off in the same way. 
 
 The summit of the ridge consists of quartz in ruin-like 
 masses, having numerous large fragments scattered about. 
 A deep valley divides the ridge from Mount \'ernet, 
 through which descends one of those remarkable streams 
 of stones, perhaps a mile in length, so peculiar to the 
 Falklands, and for the origin of which it is not an easy 
 matter to account in any very satisfactory way. The 
 summit of Mount Vernet was concealed in mist, but I 
 had a fine view of the arms of St. Salvador Bay, ex- 
 tending deeply up. I shot an ash and white-backed 
 hawk, on my return round the head of the sound, as I 
 had to leave my little boat behind, a head-wind proving 
 too strong for her to buffet with. I got on board at 
 5.10 p.m. 
 
 Thursday, igth. — Fine bright sun with light airs all 
 day. At 9.30 a.m. I started from the landing-place on 
 the beach on an excursion round the top of the bay or 
 sound ; on reaching the south beach, I found the skin- 
 boat I left there last week all right; and at 11.30 a.m. 
 launched her and shoved off, pulling along the beach to 
 the south creek. On passing a small cove at the head 
 of a valley, I saw a number of rabbits sporting about 
 among the low underwood ; and on a remarkable green 
 patch of grass sloping down to the beach, about a score 
 geese were reposing, and amongst them three or four 
 upland ones. Passed numbers of cormorants on the 
 rocky ledges, so stupid or indifferent to danger as to 
 
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286 
 
 Voyuiocs of Discovery. 
 
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 .111 J 1 
 
 allow tlic boat to pass within an oar's length of thuni. 
 I pulled to a small tussac-clad hill, on a small island 
 having a low rocky beach, near the upper end of the 
 creek, only about two miles from the entrance to the 
 sound. Left the top of the creek at 3.15 p.m., and pulled 
 round the point into the sound. At 3.45 p.m., passing 
 whole squadrons of steamer-ducks swimming off the 
 kelp, and through which I had some dilFiculty in getting 
 the light punt, and more than once ran aground in shoal 
 water on a reef of gravel and shells, extending out from 
 the point for several hundred yards on the falling of the 
 tide. 
 
 Numbers of kelp-geese {A/iscr aiitarcticn), the gander 
 pure white, whilst the goose is elegantly barred with 
 black and white, a remarkable contrast, and from their 
 habit of feeding along the shore, the gander is seen a 
 long distance off, whilst the goose is invisible from her 
 plumage, so much the colour of the shingle, concealing 
 her in the distance. After a long pull I reached the 
 ship at 5.20 p.m. The moon shone brightly in a cloud- 
 less azure-blue sky — altogether a lovely night ; and I was 
 fortunate in having a light air for my light skiff, as I had 
 both wind and the ebb-tide to pull against. My game- 
 bag contained four upland-geese, and besides the value 
 of their skins for the collection, their bodies when roasted 
 supplied a delicious variety of food for our mess ; four 
 kelp-gcese, handsome birds for their skins, but too fishy 
 in flavour to be of use for the table ; a steamer-duck, a 
 brown hawk, two black oyster-catchers, three ducks, 
 three cormorants, and two of the beautiful chionis. 
 
 Monday^ 2^rd. — Fine day ; I left the ship again in the 
 skin-boat, at 9.10 a.m., and landed at 9.55 on the opposite 
 side of the sound at Greenbank Cove ; and before I 
 reached the land was tossed about in all directions by 
 one of those sudden squalls of such frequent occurrence 
 here, I shot one black and three black and white oyster- 
 
Shooting Excursion to Urania Bay. 
 
 287 
 
 catchers, a chionis, and a small gull on the reef. Pulled 
 inside the kelp to the entrance of the creeks, and at noon 
 hauled the punt up near the Greenbank. Shot a male 
 and female upland-goose at one shot, and four rabbits in 
 the valley ; which I left at three p.m., with the punt hauled 
 up on the beach, as it blew too hard to venture back 
 in her. I therefore walked all the way round the head of 
 the sound, back to the ship, which I reached at 5.15 p.m. 
 Shot an ash and white hawk and a snipe returning. Met 
 the governor in the bay at the top of the sound. Night 
 moonlight. 
 
 Thursday, 26th. — Landed at nine a.m. and walked 
 round the top of the sound to the skin-boat I left on the 
 opposite side, and which I reached at 10.45 ^-"i- Shot 
 two rabbits and five finches in the Greenbank ravine. At 
 noon I launched the punt, and pulled into the creek, 
 when on rounding the rocky point, a sudden violent 
 squall compelled me to haul heron shore on the opposite 
 side, where I left her at the edge of the green bank 
 above high-water-mark. I shot a female Antarctic goose 
 here, and then started for Urania Bay, so named from 
 the loss of a French frigate of that name here a few 
 years ago, commanded by Captain Freycinet. It is about 
 eight miles from our anchorage ; I reached it at i .30 p.m.; 
 one arm of the creek runs up to within about a hundred 
 yards or two of the bay, boggy and swampy. 
 
 Urania Bay forms a white sandy beach, between one 
 and two miles in length, flanked by a narrow strip of 
 low sand-dunes, covered with a small berry-bearing plant, 
 and from fifty to a hundred paces across. I shot a teal 
 on a small lake here, and ten small plover from a small 
 flock on the beach, twice four at each shot ; they were not 
 at all shy, running along the sands again after the report 
 of the gun. The weather cleared up fine, but still 
 blowing hard. At 3.30 p.m. I started over very swampy 
 ground, along the opposite side to the creek, skirting the 
 
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 / '(jj'diirs of Piscovcry, 
 
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 base of the hills. Saw several upland-gm-se, and shut 
 four, two at one shot, and the other two at single shots 
 immediately afterwards. Had to leave them en cache, 
 covered with bushes at the entrance of a rabbits' burrow 
 at the head of the main stream of the creek. About a 
 quarter of a mile above it sliot three Caracara hawks, as 
 they were watchini; my proceedings at a respectful 
 distance, with the intent of making my geese their prize, 
 I well knew, as soon as my back was turned. But I 
 reversed this by making prizes of them f(jr the ornitho- 
 logical c(jllection. Only saw one snipe, which I shot, 
 also a hawk and a brown thrush. I saw three wild 
 horses. Reached the shingle beach bay at the head of 
 the sound at dusk, about five p.m., but it being high 
 spring tides, 1 could not return by the beach, and had a 
 very rough journey over the top of the cliffs, amongst 
 long grass^ tufted hummocks, and swampy bog, alter- 
 nately. 
 
 The night was dark, with a black, threatening .'-ky to 
 windward, from which, every now and then, flashes of 
 sheet lightning issued. I reached the landing-place at 
 six p.m., and had to wait some time for a boat, all hands 
 on board being employed in mooring ship ; a tremendous 
 squall with heavy rain came on after I got on board. 
 My excursion exceeded sixteen miles. 
 
 Friday, 2"] ill. — This forenoon Captain Ross gave me 
 the whale-boat, with two hands, to bring back my skin- 
 boat with the game I left behind me the other day ; and 
 soon after we left the ship a heavy squall, accompanied by 
 snow so thick that we entirely lost sight of both ships and 
 land, shaping our course by the wind, and approached 
 very near to the opposite shore before we saw it. Landed 
 and walked over the hill for about a quarter of a mile to 
 recover the four geese I left behind yesterday ; shot two 
 rabbits, a black and a grey one, in the brushwood, and 
 the first snipe I have met with in such a place; also shot 
 
Excursiotts tojolnnoti si larhoiiv and St Salvador liay\ 289 
 
 a red-breasted starling, and in piillinj^ down the creek I 
 shot five ducks and a kelp-gmder. On reachinjj; the; 
 spot where I had left theseil-skin boat, she was no longer 
 there, although I had taken the precaution to place her 
 some feet above the water-mark of the highest tides, kei-l 
 upwards, and being also in a bight of the creek, the wind 
 blew dead on ; indeed, it is inconceivable that even the 
 gale and unusually high spring-tide of last night could 
 have carried her away, yet not a vestige of hiT oars or 
 the game left with her could be discovered along the 
 shore. I shot two red-breasted starlings at a shot here, 
 and a black and white oyster-catcher. We shoved off at 
 4.15 p.m., and reached the ship just after dusk. 
 
 Tuesday^ 3i-^'^- — At 10.30 a.m. started on an excursion 
 to Johnson's Harbour ; reached it at 12.30 p.m. ; shot a 
 rabbit, and on the beach two black oyster-catchers at a 
 shot, and two brown thrushes in the ravine. At 2.30 p.m. 
 returned across the hills to Fisherman's Creek ; the whole 
 of the low grounds, with the ridge of hills bounding them 
 to the north, presented the most dreary aspect, with the 
 stillness and silence of death, there being nothing to 
 relieve the eye from the white mantle of snow which 
 enveloped the whole, and rendered travelling most labo- 
 rious work, sinking at every step mid-leg deep in snow, 
 amongst long grass, bushes, and other vegetation, passing 
 on my way a small pond or two frozen over. 
 
 Wednesday, June \st. — A blowing, stormy day, cold 
 and piercing, with a quick succession of hail-storms and 
 driving mist. I started at eleven a.m. for St. Salvador 
 Bay ; it took me one hour and a quarter, so trackless was 
 the road rendered by the snow. I shot five red-breasted 
 starling, three at one shot, and two at the next. Com- 
 menced my return at 3.45 p.m. amid snow-drift and dark 
 passing hail-storms, the whole snow-clad country and sky 
 above presenting the most wild and monotonous aspect ; 
 reached the ship at five p.m. 
 
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 290 
 
 Voyiiges of Discovery. 
 
 Monday, 20th. — At five p.m. I dined at the governor's, 
 and returned on board at 8. 15 p.m. 
 
 Friday, 242'//. — The Carysfort, of twenty-six guns, 
 arrived from Rio Janeiro with supplies for us, on her way 
 round the Horn ; she was commanded by Lord George 
 Paulet. 
 
 Thursday, 2,0/11.- — I dined on board the Carysfort with 
 the gun-room ollicers from five p.m. to 12.30. 
 
 Tliursday, July ']th. — At 7.30 a.m. I left the ship with 
 Abernethy and his foraging party for wild cattle for the 
 use of the ship. At 8.30 a.m. we crossed over the narrow 
 neck of land to St. Salvador Day, and at 9.40 embarked 
 there in a boat ; blowing fresh with drizzling rain. 
 Passing between two islands, we landed on the one to the 
 left for about twenty minutes, to allow the boat's crew to 
 dine. The birds here, especially the oyster-catchers, 
 were unusually tame and inquisitive. We next proceeded 
 u|) a creek to the encampment, where the tents suddenly 
 burst upon us as we rounded a point, and landed at 
 3.40 p.m. The two men left in charge of the dogs were 
 on the look-out for us. The two tents were placed on 
 the beach, backed by a bank, having a creek running up 
 on the right. We had some cold beef for supper, and I 
 distributed two bottles of port wine, which I had brouglit 
 v.ith me for the purpose, amongst the party, and at 
 eight p.m. turned in. I^ainy night. 
 
 Friday, 8//1. — After a steak breakfast I started at 
 ten a.m. on an excursion to the hills at the back of the 
 tents. Walking round the creek to the eastward saw an 
 old black bull under the hills ; ascended a ridge to tlu> 
 height of about 500 or 600 feet, composed of quartz, more 
 crystalline and veined than at Berkeley Sound. On tlu' 
 hill-side a herd of seven cattle wore browsing. Commenced 
 my return by a watercourse and stream of stones at 
 2.35 p.m., and reached the tents at 4.20 p.m. 
 
 Saturday, gth. — We all started at 9.15 a.m. over the 
 
 1^ 
 
Conjtict <c'.7// a Wild Bull. 
 
 291 
 
 hills to the westward, cattle-hunting. The day was cloudy 
 and squally, with a stroui^ bri'cze and snow showers. In 
 about an hour, after going some three miles, three herds 
 of cattle appeared in sight, feeding on the sides of a 
 ridge. When we had got within a quarter of a mile of 
 one of the herds, the dogs were slipped, four fine, power- 
 ful hounds, named " Laporte," " Brigand," '' York," and 
 " T(Mn," the latter a cross of the pointer and buU-terrirr, 
 nicknamed " Bully," remarkable for its ugliness. Before 
 the dogs reached the herd an old, black bull, stationed 
 on an adjacent hill as sentinel, gave the alarm by running 
 towards the herd and making a loud bellowing. The 
 dogs, however, after a short chase, secured a heifer and 
 a calf, Al)out a mile further on three large cows appeared 
 (in a hill above us. I wounded one, and Abernethy shot 
 another of them, soon after which we came upon another 
 herd, near which several old bulls had statitined them- 
 selves, and 1 went alone in pursuit of two standing 
 together on a ridire at some little distance off. 
 
 1 laving fired at and wounded one of them in the moulh, 
 the ball passing through the upper lip and tongue, lie 
 ipislantly charged me, but the ball from my second 
 barrel went through his heart. It was an anxious 
 moment though, as the infuriated beast, tossing his horns, 
 and snorting the blood from his nostrils, tore down upon 
 iiu', bt'nding his head to the ground for the final charge, 
 tor which I had reserved my fire till he had ajjproaelud 
 very near me. As my own lift,' depended on the accuracy 
 of my aim, this was the moment I seized upon to bring 
 my second barrel to bear upon the region of his heart 
 rather than his head, which had been tossed and lowered 
 too abruptly for a sure aim. lie gave a spring upwards 
 as 1 fired, and came down with such thundering force 
 wiihin a few feet of me as lo make the earth treml^le 
 beneath my feet. Abernethy, good fellow, who had been 
 a distant observer ot the risk I had incurred, and, trusting 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 to his own unerring aim, scarcely allowed time for the 
 report of my gun to reach him before he fired, his ball 
 whizzing rather too close to my ears to be altogether 
 pleasant, striking the bull, however, as he was in the very 
 act of falling with my own ball in his heart. On opening 
 him we found Abernethy's ball (w'nch was a rifle one, and 
 very different to my smoothbore double-barrel one) in the 
 lungs. He was a line black bull, with a splendid pair of 
 horns, which I preserved as a memento. His companion 
 prudently made off. 
 
 Three of the herd were killed by the dogs. In a valley 
 about half a mile of? I saw what I took to be a young 
 black bull, and went in pursuit, accompanied by the dogs, 
 and whilst our party were engaged opening the animals 
 already killed. Having crossed a rivulet, the dogs seized 
 the animal, which, pnning too powerful for them, dragged 
 them over a rising ground beyond, and I lost sight of 
 them for a time, but was directed to the spot by the 
 baying of the dogs and the bellowing of the beast, and as 
 I came up with them the animal was again in the act 
 of shakini{ off the doi{s, three of whom had attacked 
 it in front, and the fourth had hol-d of its tail. 
 
 I fired both barrels, the first shut brought her on 
 her knees, and the second en her broadside dead, for it 
 turned out to be a fine young cow, I am sorry to say, with 
 calf, but a most fierce and powerful beast. The young 
 dog " Laporte," a fine, strong animal of a light fawn 
 colour, and with a smooth coat, exhibited much spirit in 
 this encounter, and acquitted himself well, this being 
 the first time he has been engaged in an attack on wild 
 cattle, we having brought him with us in the boat. The 
 dogs next started off to attack another herd on an 
 outlying ridge, and protected by two or three old bulls. 
 I had gone within two miles of the Coral near Swan 
 Bay. In returning, two mon? were killed out of a herd, 
 and at three p.m. we' shaped our course for the tents, 
 
r 
 
 
 Excursion to Si^'an Bay ; meet eight Bulls. 293 
 
 through snow and wind ; got back at four p.m. with 
 twelve head of cattle killed in all. The early part of the 
 night was one of wind and rain, followed bysnowand frost. 
 
 Monday, \\tli. — At 8.15 a.m. I made an excursion to 
 Swan Bay, with fine weather and a fresh breeze. Crossed 
 over the hills to the westward, and at eleven a.m. reached 
 a bay east of the Coral. .Saw several upland geese here, 
 and walked along the shore to the bay, above which is 
 the Coral. I observed recent tracks of the wild bulls on 
 the sandy beich, and saw an old bull on the cliff above 
 me. In passing round the points, and along fine sandy 
 and gravelly curved beaches, I saw some Brent gei^se, 
 but I did not reach Swan liay. At 1.40 p.m I struck off 
 across the hills, from a remarkable black-looking wall of 
 rock, excavated below, and on the opposite side of a 
 stream, on my return, and reached the tents at 4.30 p.m. 
 Shot a brace of grey ducks here. 
 
 7^//('S(/av, I2tli. — At nine a.m. I again started for Swan 
 Bay, accompanied by Abernethy and two of our dogs. 
 The latter soon left us to rejoin the party in pursuit of 
 the cattle, ^^ight fine bulls, posted on a rising ground 
 not half a mile from us, catching sight of us, started at 
 once across the intervening space, shaping their course 
 direct for us at a hand-gallop, apparently with the inten- 
 tion of charging us, as they fortned themselves into a 
 compact squadron, led on by a fine, griz?ly-col(/ured old 
 bull, with magnificent spreading horns. We stood our 
 ground on the very edge of the ridge to receive them, 
 with our guns ready cocked, having a ball in each baiTcl. 
 However, after getting within some ten or twelve paces 
 of us, they suddenly thought better of it, alt(,Ting their 
 course, wore round, and descended the ravine, looking 
 very hard at us as they wheeled about, and directed 
 their course for the herd, then being attacked by the 
 dogs and our party. Had we attempted a retreat, I make 
 not the least doubt but they would have attacked us. 
 
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 294 
 
 Vovagxs of Discovery, 
 
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 I shot a teal in a rivulet we had to cross on our way 
 to the black wall of rock, where we found an old black 
 bull lying down on the opposite side within rifle shot. 
 Having fired several shots at him without effect, he got 
 up and walked a few paces towards us, when we forded 
 the stream, and he made a stand, until I got within some 
 fifty yards of him, fired, and shot him through the centre 
 of the forehead. He fell, and died with scarcely a 
 struggle. Having a fine pair of horns, I intend pre- 
 serving them. We now crossed over the grass-clad 
 hills, fording two more rivers before we reached Swan 
 Bay. 
 
 Here I found the object of my search, the black- 
 necked swan {Cygnus nign'co//is) —seven or eight of these 
 most elegant and beautiful of all the swan family 
 swimming on the lake. I had a very long shot at them, 
 but they were so shy and wary they kept out of shot, in 
 the very centre of the lake. I killed a brace of the 
 smaller species of upland geese, not larger than the 
 sheldrake, at one shot. We next walked over to Fox 
 Point, where our people had stated they had seen a fox 
 only a few days previously ; but we could not discover 
 any trace of him. I here shot another brace of the small 
 geese at a shut. Started from Fox Point at two p.m., 
 and, it being low water, we waded across the arm of the 
 bav, by the black rock, where the river enters it. We 
 saw a great number of cattle in various directions to-day. 
 One herd to the westward must have numbered upwards 
 of 100 head. The night was moonlight, with occasional 
 snowstorms. We reached the tent at six p.m., it was 
 freezing as we waded across the neck. 
 
 IVcdnesdav, \'^tli. — Shot an owl near the tents, and 
 walked to Black Rock River and back, bringing with me 
 the horns of the black bull I shot yesterday. 
 
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295 
 
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 I 111 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 'I'lip to Swan Bay— Description of the camp — Streams of stones— Liid- 
 shooting— Departure. 
 
 Thursday, \Jiftli. — Fine clay. At 8.30 a.m. I slartud on 
 anothe." excursion to Swan Bay, accompanied by Abcr- 
 ncthy and two of the dogs. We saw about a dozen 
 swans, but they were sagacious enough to persistently 
 keep to the centre of the lake. I fired both barrels at 
 them, as chance shots, being very desirous of obtaining 
 a specimen, which would be a great desideratum for our 
 ornithological colleclio'.. We walked round Fox I^oint. 
 saw many teal in the inlets, and I shot one of the smaller 
 kind of upland goose as we passed the cascade where I 
 shot the old bull, and brought away his fine bushy tail. 
 Cloudy, but moonlight evening. Reached the tents at 
 6.30 p.m. 
 
 Friday^ 15///.— Gloomy day. At 9.15 started for 
 Swan Bay, accompanied by " Laporte." Had a shot at 
 our old acquaintance the large grizzly bull, but he took to 
 his heels, declining any further encounter. Saw six 
 swans in the bay, but tht;y were far too wary to be 
 a|)proached near enough to secure a specimen. I 
 chanced two distant shots as before, with a similar 
 result, I reached the bay at noon, and left it at 
 1.30 p.m. Shot four teal, three at one shot. Saw 
 several old bulls during my excursion to Swan Bay, 
 which is nine miles distant from the tents, and T'ox Point 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
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 ten miles, over ridges and valleys of grass, and boggy 
 ground, interspersed by streams and rivulets. Black 
 Rock River being six or seven miles distant. On my 
 return at 4.45 p.m., I found a fine calf tethered near the 
 tents, which had been caught by the dogs during my 
 absence. 
 
 Saturday, \6ih. — Saw a pair of swans flying overhead. 
 I shot two upland geese at a shot near the creek, and 
 one of the smaller kind on the beach. As soon as the tide 
 floated our boat, at 10.30 a.m., we started on our return 
 to the ship, well freighted wiih fresh beef for the ships' 
 companies, leaving two men in charge of the dogs and 
 tents. Landed upon an island clothed with tussac-grass, 
 where I shot a grey duck. At 1.30 p.m. we landed at 
 St. Salvador Bay, and I shot an upland goose as we 
 beached the boat. At 2.30 p.m. we followed the track 
 to the ships, driving the poor calf before us. Met 
 Captain Ross at the observatory, and got on board again 
 at four p.m, after an absence of ten days in the camp, 
 as the surrounding country is here termed, and the whole 
 aspect of which presented the same kind of moorland 
 region as -ound Berkeley Sound ; the lower land of 
 alttiiu.c iidges and valleys of the clay-slate and sand- 
 stone formation abounding in fossil shells, and clothed 
 with the withered-looking brown grass everywhere met 
 with, imtermingled here and there with thi diddle-dee of 
 the settlers, a small berry-bearing plant. Narrow water- 
 courses intersect most of the valleys, where the soil is 
 generally swampy and boggy. 
 
 This tract extends for two or three miles from the 
 shores of the bay, backed by a range of quartzose hills, 
 rising to an elevation of 500 or 600 feet, at th' base of 
 which 1 observed the btrearas of stones so remarkable in 
 the range of hills south of Berkeley Sound, all the frag- 
 ments composed of the same kind of angular-shaped 
 quartz. But 1 did not meet with any traces of organic 
 
 III 
 
yf^ 
 
 Lieut. MiMurdo, first of the " Terror" invalided. 297 
 
 remains in tlic clav-slatc 01 sandslune in the vicinity. 
 Birds were more abundant, more especially the smaller 
 kind of geese, rarely found about Berkeley Sound. 
 Upland geese, too, were far more numerous, as well as 
 tile teal, and much less shy. The cattle were generally 
 dispersed over the hills and ridges skirting the valleys, 
 which, affording them an extensive field of vision all 
 round, made them safe from any sudden surprise. They 
 roved in herds of from seven to eight to upwards of 
 100 head in each, the old bulls invariably keeping 
 apart from the herd, stationing themselves on a ridge 
 not far distant, either singly or in pairs, ready to 
 give the alarm on the approach of danger ; this they 
 announced by bellowing and running towards the herd, 
 which instantly, taking the hint, made off at full speed, 
 whilst ihe old bulls, having performed their duty, kept 
 their ground, disdaining to fly, and thus falling an easy 
 prey to the hunter who may be a good shot, and cool 
 enough to put a ball through the heart or brain. Short 
 of this, if otherwise wounded, they are most formidable 
 opponents, giving but brief time to reload for a second 
 attack. The tents were about twelve miles from St. 
 Salvador Bay, and twenty head of cattle were killed 
 during these ten days. 
 
 Monday, August \st. — I received a note from Captain 
 Allen Gardener, askingmeto call and see his littledaughter, 
 who was unwell, which I did at ten a.m. ; returning on 
 board again at noon. It blew too strong afterwards to 
 get on shore again as no boat could leave the ship. 
 
 Wednesday, i^th. — Captain Allen Gardener came on 
 board to-day to thank me for my attention to his little 
 girl, during her recent indisposition. 
 
 Saturday, 2']tli. — At two p.m. McMurdo, the first 
 lieutenant of the Terror, was invalided. In him I have 
 lost an esteemed friend, and the expedition one of its 
 best officers, whom we could ill spare ; but he has 
 
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 298 
 
 Voyages of Ih'scoz'ciy 
 
 
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 been suffering from an internal complaint, which left him 
 no other alternative. Had a long chat with him on deck 
 afterwards. 
 
 Tuesday ^Septcmhct- 6th. — At 9.15 a.m. I landed at the 
 head of the sound, crossing over to St. Salvador Bay. 
 Whilst pulling across the sound, I shot two- black-headed, 
 pink-breasted gulls. When about three miles north of St. 
 Salvador, I passed a "Fachine" ravine swarming with rab- 
 bits. In crossing over a sloping ridge, clothed with the 
 long yellowish-brown grass which, with the tussac-grass 
 [Dactylis ccrspitosa), the balsam hog {Dolax glcbaria), 
 and Veronica clliptica^ form such prominent features in 
 the vegetation of these moorlands, interspersed in places 
 with a sprinkling of pretty flowers, I shot three brace 
 of snipe and two coral red-legged gulls ; returning on 
 board at 5.30 p.m. — my last shooting excursion here. 
 It has been a beautiful summer day, a bright warm sun, 
 yet a few patches of snow still lingered in places. 
 
 Wednesday^ ']tli. — Called this afternoon at Captain 
 Gardener's, to take leave of him and his family, and 
 afterwards on board the Terror to see McMurdo, whom 
 I found taking a solitary dinner ; and on returning on 
 board I wrote a letter home. 
 
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 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
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 Ilcrmitc Island, Cape Horn — Ticira del Fucgo — The natives and tlieir 
 wigwams — My solitary exploration of the island— Ascent oC 
 I'orster's Peak. 
 
 T/i//rs(f(!j', September Sf/i. — At 9.40 a.m. \\v. sailud for 
 Hcrniitc Island, distant about 400 miles, a boisterous 
 passage of twelve days, encountering a succession of 
 south-westerly gales. We made all sail down the sound 
 under topgallant and studding-sails, before a fresh breeze, 
 and a misty, drizzling rain. Got clear of the sound soon 
 after noon, our stock of provisions consisting of 100 
 rabbits, two pigs, and fresh beef. Night cleared up fine 
 and moonlight, the Southern Cross appearing very bright. 
 Monday, \gtli. — At nine a.m. madi- the land, the Bar- 
 nevelts and Cape Deceit on the weather-bow, Cape Morn, 
 beinir six or seven leagues to leeward, under a mantle of 
 snow. About tw(j p.m. we doubled the celebrated Horn, 
 passing within half a mile of it. It is a bold, bluff-look- 
 ing headland for its height, barely 700 feet. It presents 
 a precipitous, hard, greyish-looking face of rock to the 
 southward, variegated in places with yellowish-brown vege- 
 tation. The S.W. extremity presented a rugged, broken, 
 l)icturesque aspect. I-ying off it are two small rocks, 
 over which the sea was breaking. TVom four to eight 
 p.m. we were employed beating up the IJay of St. Francis 
 for St. Martin's Cove, Hermite Island, off the entrance 
 to which we came to an anchor for the night, in seventeen 
 fathoms and a half, sand. A thick mist descending from 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 the hills, veiled the land. After dark we tacked close 
 under Hall Island, a high, steep, and bold rock; and 
 soon after we had anchored at eight p.m., a boat was 
 sent up the cove, and reported having seen a light on 
 shore. 
 
 In the gloom of the night the high land forming an 
 amphitheatre in front of us appeared very close, like 
 scenes on the stage. The Terror anchored about a 
 mile outside of us, near Chanticleer Island. 
 
 Tuesday, 20///. — All hands employed warping the ship 
 up the cove, and at three p.m. she was moored about 
 one-third of a mile from its head. The best bower on 
 the north shore, in ten fathoms, and the small bower in 
 twelve and three-quarter fathoms on the south shore, on 
 a bottom of sand, shells, mud, and black specks. The 
 morning was fine ; both captains landed before breakfast 
 to select a spot for the observatory. I could see from 
 the ship the smoke curling up from the native hut or 
 wigwam, and five of the Fuegians on the beach, all naked, 
 with the exception of a seal-skin mat thrown over one 
 shoulder, the shoulder to windward. They shouted for 
 us to come on shore, and exhibited no appearance what- 
 ever of fear or astonishment. Their canoe was lying on 
 the shingle ueach. The weather in the afternoon became 
 overcast with snow squalls. 
 
 The only birds seen were a solitary pair of the Antarctic 
 goose on the rocks, and a pair of steamer-ducks, with 
 a cormorant or two swimming on the water, an occa- 
 sional hawk or vulture hovering over the mountain 
 heights, and the note of some small bird was heard in 
 the woods. 
 
 Wednesday, 2\st. — I landed for the first time at eight 
 a.m. on the shores of Tierra del Fuego in the boat 
 taking the observatory on shore. Three of the natives 
 met us as we landed, saluting us with their customary 
 expression, whatever it meant ; the words were "Yammer- 
 
Visit to the Native Wigzmtn. 
 
 301 
 
 skooner." I shook hands with them all round, giving 
 each an anchor-button from my uniform jacket. In their 
 canoe I saw the white pigment with which they smear 
 themselves over. I went to the wigwam, a dome-shaped 
 hut, about the size and form of an ordinary haycock, 
 formed by a number of branches of trees driven into the 
 ground and forming a circle, having the ends brought 
 together at the top, and the interstices filled in very 
 rudely with the smaller branches, leaving a small opening 
 fronting the beach as a doorway. In the centre of the 
 interior a few embers were still smouldering on the bare 
 ground ; a bag made of the skin of the steamer-duck, 
 having the feathers inside, and a piece of the skin lay in 
 one corner; from the roof was suspended a calabash- 
 shaped bottle made of kelp, near which stood two spears 
 with barbed bone heads, and on the ground lay four 
 pieces of sticks tied together at their ends by means of 
 rushes, the whole forming an oblong square, the use of 
 which I could form no notion of. 
 
 Whilst I was examining the spears, the youngest of 
 the three P'uegians, a youth of about seventeen perhaps, 
 entered the wigwam, and I struck a barter with him for 
 one of them, giving him half a dozen anchor-buttons 
 from my jacket in exchange, with which he appeared to 
 be highly satisfied. He had a goodnatured expression 
 of countenance. 
 
 On leaving the wigwam, I took a ramble up the beech 
 woods, some hundred yards up the valley above the cove, 
 amongst bushes and rushes, and came upon a number 
 of stake steps and bridges over the watercourse, indicating 
 the site of some observatory erected here years ago by a 
 former shipmate of mine in the Ilccla, Lieutenant Foster, 
 when he was in command of H.M.S. Cliaiiticleer'xn those 
 seas. I ascended the steep side of Mount Kater, first 
 through a belt of the evergreen beech and some dead 
 trees; then through a zone of arbutus, holly-leaved 
 
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 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 barberry, and dwarf deciduous beech, for about two- 
 thirds up the hill, above which was the steep and all 
 but barren peak, strewed over with a few projecting 
 fragments of rock, intermingled with tufts of moss and 
 lichens. Here and there a half-withered, tortuous branch 
 of the deciduous beech struggled for existence through 
 the stony soil, in which its roots were embedded. 
 
 The air on the summit was very keen, the ground 
 frozen hard, coated in places with ice and patches of 
 snow, rendering the ascent and descent very slippery, 
 with scant hold for cither hands or feet ; the projecting 
 fragments of rock very treacherous to trust to, often 
 giving way under the slightest pressure. When within 
 a hundred feet of the summit the gusts of wind, here 
 called Williwaws, became so violent, it was somewhat 
 difficult to cling to the sides of the peak against them. 
 However, I gained a ledge of rock on the right, from 
 which I had a fine view of the surroundings. The sky 
 was of a clear blue, a bright sunshine ; a large hawk 
 hovering overhead. The snow-clad, rugged peaks of 
 Ticrra del Fuego bounded the distant horizon to the 
 north, St. Martin's Cove lying immediately beneath me, 
 with four small lakes on the ridge on its opposite side, 
 backed by Mount Forster and the Conical Peak ; a bay 
 appearing on the north side of Hermite Island, and 
 another to the westward, which, with the adjacent islands, 
 completed the panorama. 
 
 I next descended, and on my way through the woods 
 found the winter's bark {Driniys IVintcri) and the holly- 
 leaved barberry {Berber is ilici folia), both budding. On 
 reaching the head of the cove I fired at a tree to observe 
 what effect it would have on a Fuegian who was standing 
 close to me, but he did not even start ; quietly walking 
 up to the tree with me, he picked out one of the shots. 
 The birds were very scarce, and difficult to find in the 
 dense thickets; I only saw two kinds of small birds, a 
 
 i'f 
 
m 
 
 I isjt of Fitcgians to the Ship. 
 
 303 
 
 creeper and a small ash-coloured warbler (or sylvia) 
 similar to the Falkland Island beach-bird ; the latter I 
 shot, and returned on board at five p.m. 
 
 Thursday, 22nd. — Fine, mild, sunny day. At nine a.m. 
 a canoe containing six Puegians, three of them men, two 
 children, and one woman, came round the north head 
 into the cove. They first went alongside the Terror, and 
 then paddled towards us. Two of the men came on 
 board, the oldest remaining with the woman and children 
 in the canoe. One of those on board had several neck- 
 laces, and a fillet bound round his head, and the hair 
 smeared over with the white pigment, giving him the 
 appearance of being powdered. He had a mat over one 
 shoulder in the usual fashion, and, with the exception of 
 this, naked as he was born ; his face was streaked trans- 
 versely with bars of some brown pigment. They made 
 very significant signs for something to eat, and accom- 
 panied by their stereotyped expression of " Yammer- 
 skooner," which probably meant "Give me;" so I gave 
 them some biscuit, which they ate readily enough. In 
 the centre of the canoe was a fire placed on some clay. 
 
 In the after- part of the canoe lay four or five spears, 
 near them the old man was seated, his face barred with 
 black pigment. In the bows the woman reclined with a 
 paddle in her hand, and a young child in her lap ; near 
 her lay an old rush basket or two and a spear-head. I 
 handed her a few anchor buttons, and part of a gilt per- 
 cussion-cap case for the basket and the spear-head. The 
 cap case seemed especially to take her fancy, for she at 
 once suspended it round the child's neck. In the bottom 
 of the canoe lay a pile of firewood, with some rabbits 
 and upland geese they had got from the Terror, and 
 under which a dog had ensconced himself out of sight. 
 
 Their coarse, black hair, daubed over with the white 
 pigment, contrasted strangely with their dark, copper- 
 coloured skins, all smeared with paint, which together 
 
 i: 
 
 ■ 1' ;, i! 
 
304 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 with their very crooked, spindle-like, ill-shaped lower 
 extremities, gave them no very prepossessing aspect. 
 All these defects, however, were counterbalanced by 
 their good natured, inoffensive manner, and singular 
 talent for mimicry, repeating every word spoken in the 
 most clear and distinct imitation. On leaving us they 
 paddled towards the wigwam containing the cove family 
 of natives, but their meeting seemed one of a very 
 apathetic character ; not a word appeared to be ex- 
 changed between them. The woman and children did 
 not land at all, never leaving the canoe. About noon 
 they paddled round the north headland, the way they 
 came, and were soon afterwards followed by all the party 
 from the wigwam in their own canoe, leaving the cove 
 wholly to ourselves ; I heard the dog barking on shore 
 before they left. 
 
 On Saturday, the 24th, the two canoes returned to the 
 cove about eight a.m. with six men, four women, and four 
 children, but left again at one p.m., after calling alongside 
 both ships. Weather overcast, with drizzling rain. 
 
 Monday^ 26th. — Gloomy and overcast, with drizzling 
 rain. I landed at eleven a.m. on an excursion up the 
 wooded ridge to the right of the observatory. Passing 
 through a dense wood, I came upon a lake about a rifle 
 shot across, from which I kept ascending to a gap or 
 saddle between the cone-shaped peak on the left and the 
 high ridge extending from Mount Forster on the right, and 
 about an hour's walk from the observatoiy. The ground 
 spongy and boggy, covered with lichens and mosses and 
 patches of yellow grass ; wreaths of snow amongst the 
 trees. 
 
 When on the summit of the saddle, looking north, a 
 low tract of boggy land extended to a bay on the opposite 
 side of the island, distant about two miles. Saw two 
 small lakes here, and shot a thrush of the same species 
 as the Falkland Island one near the observatory, and 
 
Excursion ncross Ilcniiilc Is/and. 
 
 305 
 
 after picking up a few shtlls from the rocks, 1 returned 
 on board at five p.m. 
 
 Tuesday^ 27///. — \ ery fine, brij^ht, sunny day. At 
 ten a.m. I left the ship very quietly and alone, with the 
 intention of following up my discovery of yesterday, and 
 crossing the island to its opposite shore, for, owing to the 
 somewhat sudden disappearance of the natives after our 
 arrival in the cove, Captain Ross had entertained some 
 apprehensions as to their feelings towards us as intruders 
 upon their domain, and consequently would not give his 
 sanction to excursions out of hail or sight of the ships 
 on the part of either officers or crew, for fear of treachery 
 if they came across the Fuegians. But I felt that in my 
 own case, with the special duties of naturalist to perform, 
 I had good reason to infer that he would not expect 
 this general restriction to apply to or affect my movements 
 in the pursuits of science, provided I took the responsi- 
 bility upon myself, and, having done so, subsequently 
 made him acquainted with it. 
 
 Accordingly 1 started at ten a.m. of the 27th. Follow- 
 ing the native track from the observatory to the right of 
 the watercourse and the lake, up the North Saddle, which 
 I had reached yesterday, I now descended it to the other 
 side through dense woods of the deciduous beech (/'\i<r/is 
 antarcticd) and the evergrei.'n beech {Fagiis Forstori), 
 then to the left along a watercourse over moist and boggy 
 ground. Passed over two or three open glades in these 
 woods, swampy, and covered with long rushes, not 
 unlikely spots for moorhen. 
 
 At one p.m. I all at once suddenly emerged without 
 any previous sign whatever from the densest thicket, upon 
 a shingly beach of the bay, which I had seen from the 
 summit of the saddle yesterday. On the beach a pair 
 of kelp geese were feeding, as usual with them, amongst 
 the seaweed, and just as I was about firing at them a 
 pair of grey ducks caught my eye, swimming in the 
 
 vol.. I. X 
 
 at 
 
 U 
 
3o6 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 \ ' 
 
 bay about loo yards to the westward ; and thinking they 
 might be new to me, I skirted the bushes till I came 
 within shot, fired and killed one ; at the very same moment 
 a fine caracara hawk flew overhead before I observed 
 him, and just as he was about alighting with outspread 
 wings upon a dead tree I brought him to the ground with 
 the remaining barrel. 
 
 At this very instant, much to my surprise, I now dis- 
 covered that I was in close proximity to a native wigwam, 
 just within the skirts of the bushes behind mo, and which 
 had been concealed from view by a shell mound, the soil 
 of which was grown over by a profusion of wild celery, 
 giving it a green appearance — a very " kitchen-midden " 
 in short. Picking up my dead hawk, which had fallen at 
 the foot of the withered tree a few paces to the left, 1 
 lost no time in reloading my gun before I ventured 
 farther in exploring the precincts of the native hut, first, 
 however, securing the remaining duck, which had never 
 left its dead companion, by firing one of my barrels I 
 had just loaded. The wind being on the shore, both 
 birds drifted upon the beach, and having transferred them 
 with the hawk to my haversack, I reloaded the barrel, and 
 thus armed I approached the wigwam, the door of which 
 fronted the bay. On entering I found that its owners 
 must have only recently left it, as the remains of a fire, 
 with the ashes still smouldering, occupied the centre, 
 which, with a few limpet shells scattered about, was all 
 it contained. 
 
 It is about five miles distant from the ships, the North 
 Saddle being about midway between. I left the wigwam 
 at 1.30 p.m., as I was satisfied that its inmates were lurk- 
 ing about not far off, and I guarded against any sudden 
 surprise by avoiding as much as possible the thickets, 
 keeping to the beach. I was not, however, kept long 
 in suspense, a canoe hove in sight, paddling along shore 
 from the opposite side of the bay, and making for the 
 
■^1 
 
 Ascent of Mount rorster. 
 
 307 
 
 wigwam, so that probably the owners had been on a fish- 
 ing excursion when my unexpected visit to their hut had 
 attracted their notice, for they are very keen-sighted, and 
 no one from the ships had before this crossed the island. 
 In returning over the North Saddle is a platform free from 
 bushes, in shape resembling a ship's deck ; here I shot a 
 male teal, out of a pair swimming in the lake below, and 
 got on board at four p.m. 
 
 Wcdnciday^ 28///. — No one from the ships haying yet 
 attempted the ascent of Forster's Peak, at 10.15 a.m. I 
 landed with that intention. The day proved squally, with 
 showers of rain and hail alternately, and sunshine at 
 intervals. I commenced my ascent at the watercourse, 
 and on gaining the first ridge I continued along it till I 
 reached the base of Mount Forster. Passing by a lake, 
 I shot a tree-sparrow and the Falkland Island sylvia. 
 After rising a second ridge I gained the summit soon 
 after noon. It is formed of a very hard, compact, close- 
 grained grei-nstone, highly magnetic, and forming a 
 rugged pile of projecting masses and detached fragments 
 of rock, the ascent being at about an angle of 45°. The 
 deciduous beech even here struggles for existence on 
 the bleak and barren summit, entwining itself in a tortuous 
 network amongst the rocks in the scanty soil, in company 
 with a few lichens and mosses. 
 
 On its south-east aspect is a deep, wild-looking, rugged, 
 perpendicular precipice, like a yawning gulf as it descends 
 to the shores of the cove. Cape Horn stands boldly forth 
 in the distant horizon. On the north side Mount Forster 
 forms a gradual sloping descent to the low, boggy 
 i^round, bounded by the north bays, and on the distant 
 horizon by the mainland of Tierra del Fuego. I could 
 see the shell-mounds of celery in front of the wigwam I 
 visited yesterday, and counted six small lakes on the 
 low ground north of the peak ; to the north-east deep 
 water and the narrow boat entrance to Maxwell Harbour, 
 
 X 2 
 
 
^ 
 
 308 
 
 Voyages of Discovery 
 
 \\ 
 
 )i' 
 
 when an opening between the hills revealed a glimpse of 
 the bay to the westward, and I eounted some twelve 
 islands around. 
 
 Whilst on the summit I had an opportunity of witness- 
 ing the formation of one or two of those I0c.1l squalls 
 termed here " Williwaws," as they rose in the form of a 
 light white, vapoury kind of cloud, gradually expandinjj^ 
 in size till, reaching the opposite western hills, they burst 
 forth in all their concentrated strength, gusts of wind so 
 violent that I was compelled to cling to the bare rocks to 
 avoid being blown over some precipice. These gusts are 
 followed by hail and rain in very large drops, the air 
 becoming all at once cold and most pinching to the 
 fingers. This peak is very nearly as high as Mount 
 Kater. At 1.40 p.m. I descended towards the North 
 Saddle, which I reached at three p.m., along the wooded 
 side of the hill, under Conical Peak, and west of the lake, 
 by a watercourse, through tall trees, and got on board at 
 five p.m. 
 
 Monday, October yd. — Gloomy and overcast morning. 
 At 9. 15 a.m. I landed at the watercourse, shot a tree- 
 sparrow, and the female of the teal I shot here the other 
 day, and also a yellow-breasted fringilla. After pro- 
 ceeding for some hundred yards through the dense woods 
 and thickets, I missed my geological hammer from my 
 shot-belt, in which I had fixed it, as I thought, securely, 
 but the struggle through the bushes had dragged it out. 
 I felt much mortified at this discovery, as it had been 
 a favourite hammer of my old friend Dr. Fitton, for- 
 merly President of the Geological Society, and who took 
 the liveliest interest in the expedition, and told me, when 
 he presented me with it, after cutting an inscription on 
 its handle, that he had done most of his geological 
 work with it. I began to retrace my steps at once, as 
 nearly as I could guess, in the intricate maze of wood 
 and shrub, with but the faintest hope of recovering it. 
 
S/tooi a Brace of Woodcock. 
 
 309 
 
 On regaining the margin of the lake, however, I was 
 fortunate enough to catch sight of the handle sticking 
 up just above the level of the brushwood, and now secur- 
 ing it more carefully, I shaped my course up the North 
 Saddle, and through the wood, up the ridge to the 
 Conical Peak, a remarkable-looking mass of greenstone, 
 highly magnetic, and some half-hour's walk from the 
 saddle. I descended near a deep narrow cleft or gully. 
 On the west side several gullies were filled with snow, 
 and a dense mist overspread the hills, accompanied by 
 fine rain, so that I could with difficulty find my way 
 along a precarious footing. 
 
 At one p.m. I got a momentary glimpse of the north 
 bay, through the drifting mist. Shot a small, dark- 
 coloured Sylvia ; and amongst the underwood and beech- 
 trees, when between the saddle and the lake, I met with 
 a great prize, shooting a brace of woodcock, the first 
 seen here ; the fir.sl bird I flushed rose close at my feet. 
 The rain continued till I got on board at 4.30 p.m, the 
 trees showeiing down upon me their drippings as I strug- 
 gled through them, drenching my specimens and myself 
 to the skin. Captain Ross this evening pointed out to 
 me the polarity of the many magnetic specimens of the 
 greenstone rocks I had given to him. 
 
 Tuesday, 4I/1. — The morning threatening and gloomy. 
 At 1 1.30 a.m. I landed on an excursion up the high hill 
 at the back of the observatory, the rival of Mount Kater 
 in altitude. After passing over a ridge of deciduous 
 beech-trees, stunted and straggling, I reached the summit 
 of the peak by a crescentic ridge of snow, at 1.45 p.m. ; 
 the sun shining forth through a break in the clouds, I 
 had a finer prospect than from any of the other hills. 
 
 Below me, to the eastward, St. Martin's Cove with the 
 ships at anchor ; on the west side, a deep, broad- 
 bottomed valley, clothed with grass, rushes, and under- 
 wood — the latter chiefly of the deciduous beech ; be- 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 r 
 
 w ' 1 
 
 i 
 
 Hi 
 
'^^^SS'V-™' 
 
 310 
 
 y^oya^fs of Discovery. 
 
 yond which, on this side of Cape Spencer, St. Joachim's 
 Cove, terminating in a fine white sandy beach, separated 
 by a narrow neck of low land covered with underwood, 
 rushes, and grass, and nearly a mile in breadth, from a 
 deep bay running up on the opposite side of Cape 
 Spencer, and terminating in a cove at the upper end, 
 bearing a striking resemblance to St. Martin's Cove, 
 the hills bounding it being high, and much the same 
 in character of outline. At 2.30 p.m. I descended along 
 a ridge which extends in a westerly direction towards 
 Joachim's Bay, and dividing the valley into two portions, 
 forming a slightly curved ridge in the centre. 
 
 Reached the hill above Joachim's Cove at three p.m. 
 Saw a pair of remarkable birds here, in size and appear- 
 ance between the partridge and the quail. I shot one 
 of them, and in my descent to the valley on my return, 
 I flushed a woodcock from the rushes and underwood of 
 dwarf beech, and after shooting it, had it not fallen on 
 a white patch of snow, amidst the impervious thicket I 
 might have lost it. I reached the West Saddle at 4.45 
 p.m., descending along the margin of the snow patch, 
 to the observatory. Saw an arbutus in bloom here, and 
 g(jt on board at six p.m., well pleased with my day's 
 sport, having obtained two rare and beautiful birds, a fine 
 specimen of the perdix and the woodcock. 
 
 Wednesday, ^th. — I gave to Captain Ross one of the 
 woodcocks and some specimens of magnetic rocks, of 
 great interest to him. I landed at eleven a.m. Went 
 up Observatory Valley, found a whole line of trees blown 
 down and uprooted here, by the late williwaw, sweeping 
 down the valley with overwhelming force ; and got so 
 entangled in the intricate matted thickets on the side of 
 the ridge bounding the western valley in the south, 
 consisting chiefly of beeches, six feet high, with their 
 branches interlaced at the tops, that I was obliged to 
 cross the valley to the opposite ridge, through patches of 
 
//■> rnt of A'd/c/s Peak. 
 
 3«i 
 
 so 
 
 rush and underwood. I saw two more of the quail-like 
 birds in the place where I first met with them yesterday. 
 Descended nearly to the sandy cove, but a thick mist, 
 with drizzling rain, accompanied by heavy gusts of windi 
 arrested all further progress, and at 3.15 p.m. I returned, 
 Hushing a woodcock, and hearing the voices of the natives, 
 although I did not get sight of them ; and got on board 
 at six p.m. 
 
 Friday, 'jth. — One of the Fuegians, the youngest man, 
 came down the valley to the observatory this afternoon, 
 and made a fire in the wigwam, where he remained all 
 night. I skinned eight birds to-day, and found the elytra 
 or wing-cases of a small beetle in the stomach of the 
 woodcock. 
 
 Monday, lof/i. — Very clear, sunny day. Landed at 
 the rocks under Kater's Peak, and at nine a.m. started 
 up the north face of the mountain, through thickets 
 of evergreen beech, from twenty-five to thirty-five feel 
 and upwards in height ; passed some deep gorges and 
 fissures, about two-thirds up, found the first inaccessible ; 
 tried to scale an intervening mass, but found it too 
 steep, with no hold for either hands or feet to trust to. 
 Descended round the point, and effected the ascent by 
 a gorge to the west of it, and reached the summit at 
 10.45 ''^•^- 'l^^'s '^ ^''°'" twelve to twenty feet higher 
 than the point seen from the ship. It is composed of 
 sienite of a lighter colour, from having a greater propor- 
 tit)n of felspar than at the base, which contains more 
 hornblende. 
 
 I had a fine view from the summit of the Capes Horn 
 and Spencer. At 12.15 I descended on the souih-west 
 side, over rugged ledges of rocks, followin<^ the ridge to 
 Joachim's Cove, where it terminates in a steep wood- 
 crested hill, having a perpendicular escarpment next the 
 sea. Passed several large boulders of very fine-grained 
 greenstone. On board at five p.m. 
 
I 2 
 
 I '(lyas^rs of Discoicry. 
 
 Tncsdn\\ will. — Laiulcd at niiu' a.m. Crossed over 
 the \\ rst Saddle. Saw a greater luinibcr of small birds 
 amongst the tree tops than 1 have observed before. I 
 shot a wren and finch in Sandy Cove, and a black and 
 white oyster-catcher. Had a shot at an owl. I noticed 
 a wii^wam on the other side of the neck of land, but a 
 heavy fall of snt)w, rain, and thick mist compelled mc to 
 return at two p.m. On passinjj; by Sandy Cove I dis- 
 covi-rid a wisj;wani embosomed in trees above the bank, 
 haviuLj a mound in front covered with celery. Met with 
 large boulders of granite in Sandy Cove. The air 
 became very raw and cold in the latter part of the day. 
 Got on board at 7.45 p.m. 
 
 '. ii 
 
e 
 I* 
 
 
 ■o 
 1/3 
 
 (J 
 
,il 
 
 
3' 3 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Excursion up to the summit of Cape Spencer — llird-shooting — Difticiilty 
 with a native as to plunder— My diplomatic niancjeuvres— We leave 
 the island. 
 
 Wednesday, October \2tl1. — Morning cloudy and threat- 
 ening rain. I landed at 8.45 a.m. amid a fall of snow. 
 Going up Observatory Valley, saw many small birds, but 
 limited to two or three species of the fringilla. Shot a 
 thrush after I had crossed the West Saddle. The 
 weather cleared up, and I followed the course of the 
 Western Valley to Joachim's Cove, where I shot a poly- 
 borus hawk. Crossed Sandy Cove, and at 11.30 a.m. I 
 began the ascent of the ridge on the opposite side of the 
 cove leading to Cape Spencer, to reach the summit of 
 which was the object of to-day's excursion. First passed 
 over a short scrub, mixed with brown grass and moss, 
 and a few patches of dwarf beech. On gaining the 
 rocky top of the ridge I continued along its sharp crest, 
 having an almost perpendicular escarpment on the left, 
 skirting the deep valley beneath, in which was a lake. 
 This ledge had an undulating outline, rising in one part 
 to a considerably elevated point, with corresponding 
 depressions. 
 
 The rock was granitic, very distinctly marked by 
 divisional planes in the escarpment to the south, and 
 dipping in that direction at an angle of 45". Enormous 
 boulders lay scattered about in the wildest confusion the 
 whole of the way to the base of Cape Spencer, where, at 
 
 I: 
 
 M 
 
 ll 
 
 li! 
 
3^4 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 if 
 
 ' yi 
 
 (I 
 
 12.50, I descended a saddle, or depression, three miles 
 from Sandy Cove, at the head of Joachim's Bay ; many of 
 the granite blocks were intersected by veins of a close- 
 grained greenstone, from three inches to three feet in 
 diameter. Here I could trace the recent impressions of 
 the naked feet of the natives, where the soil was soft 
 and plastic all along the ridge, and in an upward direc- 
 tion towards the summit of the cape. At the before- 
 named depression the actual ascent of the promontory 
 constituting the cape commences, near two small pools 
 in a peaty soil from this point. I reached the summit in 
 twenty minutes, at 1.15 p.m., over an elastic moss, 
 filling up the interstices between the fragments of rock, 
 which are piled one upon another to the summit, 
 approaching which, however, the vegetation entirely dis- 
 appears, and you step over the bare rock, from one block 
 to another, till the top of the ridge is attained, when a 
 perfectly circular bowl, an extinct crater, in short, pre- 
 sents itself, between 200 and 300 feet in depth, and 
 upwards of a mile in circumference, the bottom of 
 which is filled by a large lake, its greatest length being 
 from north to south, coated at the time of my visit 
 with ice on the northern side. From the margin of the 
 lake to the upper rim of this evidently once submarine 
 crater, the whole was formed of loose stones and frag- 
 ments of rock, composed chiefly of sienite or greenstone, 
 whilst the b *" the mountain is of granite, similar to 
 
 the ridge fr .vnich it arises. 
 
 The highest part of the rim is to the westward, along 
 which I proceeded, following its narrow crest to the 
 point o erhanging the sea to the south, about five 
 minutes' walk from its highest part. I now found myself 
 standing on — with one exception, the celebrated Horn 
 itself, which stands out a few miles further south — the 
 southernmost extremity of the vast continent of America, 
 or rather, islands lying off it. 
 
Tt- 
 
 Witness the Formation of a Willawaw. 
 
 H5 
 
 As no one from either of the ships had preceded me 
 here, i emptied some shot from my belt on the rock I 
 had seated myself upon, placing an anchor button from 
 my jacket in the centre, as a memento of my visit. 
 
 With the great southern ocean spread out before me 
 the scene was one of unrivalled grandeur and sublimity, 
 much enhanced by the cheering rays of a bright sun, 
 which shone forth from a clear azure-blue sky, the day 
 having cleared up charmingly fine. In the distant 
 horizon to the south-west the Diego Ramirez rocks 
 appeared like faint hummocks, and the western extremity 
 of Hermite Island low but distinct, whilst Cape Horn 
 stood boldly out to the south-east, breaking in upon the 
 monotony of the vast expanse of waters. 
 
 One of those squalls for which this region has become 
 so celebr "d passed before my eyes, presenting a very 
 singr' pearance as seen from the spot where I stood. 
 
 It commenced as a light, white, vapoury cloud, the out- 
 line of which was so well defined that it assumed all the 
 appearance of an iceberg, for which I should most cer- 
 tainly have taken it, had I not witnessed its beginning, 
 and watched it through all its phases of development, 
 and its effects upon the surface of the water beneath it 
 in its transitions, as it very slowly moved in the direction 
 of Cape Horn, which it doubled, not materially altering 
 its form, that of an iceberg, a phantom one, it is true, 
 and of thin, aerial aspect. 
 
 Looking landward, too, there was no lack of incidents 
 to render the day's excursion an impressive one. Lt-low 
 me, in the valley beneath, the dusky forms of half a score 
 of the Fuegians caught my eye at the distance of about a 
 mile from me. They were winding along in single file- 
 by one of their tracks from the rocky ledges skirting the 
 bay, where doubtless they had been collecting limpets 
 — their favourite food, and, as bread is with us, their staff 
 of life — from the rocks along the shore. Notwithstanding 
 
 ll 
 
3i6 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 I. 
 
 my elevated position, and all but concealed by the rock's 
 fragments grouped around me, I really think their keen, 
 sharp eyes discovered me, for they came to a halt more 
 than once, as if reconnoitring the spot on which I stood. 
 The solitude and deathlike silence reigning around was 
 only broken by the presence of a large polyborus hawk 
 hovering immediately overhead, and a small warbler 
 which flitted by me at the moment. 
 
 At two p.m. I began the descent. Reached Sandy 
 Cove at four p.m. Flushed a woodcock amongst some 
 bushes, but missed it. Saw a vulture, and shot a small 
 hawk I had not before seen on the beach. Crossed the 
 West Saddle at 6.15 p.m.. Shot a thrush in the valley, 
 and got on board at 7.15 p.m. Soon afterwards it came 
 on thick with snow. 
 
 This evening I volunteered to Captain Ross to be one 
 of a party in a boating expedition to Cape Horn. The 
 distance which I went over to-day must have exceeded 
 twenty miles, as the summit of Cape Spencer cannot be 
 less than nine or ten miles from the ship. On the 
 following day two of the natives returned to their wigwam 
 in the cove, and lighted a fire in it, and left again on 
 Sunday, the i6th. On the following day, Monday, the 
 17th, I again landed, on an excursion round the shores 
 of the cove, returning on board at six p.m. 
 
 Tuesday^ I'&th. — Was the most boisterous day we have 
 as yet experienced here. The barometer fell nearly to 
 28°, blowing in furious squalls or williwaws from the south- 
 west, lashing the surface of the cove into sheets of spray 
 and mist, accompanied at intervals by heavy falls of snow, 
 which covered the hills to the very margin of the cove, 
 with one mantle of white, so that I could not communi- 
 cate with the shore. No boat could land ; and to-morrow 
 is " term-day." 
 
 Wednesday, 26th. — We have had a wholeweek of stormy 
 weather, notwithstanding which I made excursions on 
 
ILxcursion lo Maxxvell Harbour 
 
 1^1 
 
 shore both yesterday and the day before, but of no great 
 interest. To-day I made one to Maxwell Harbour, 
 starting at 9.45 a.m. I landed at the watereourse and 
 crossed over the North Saddle and the flanks of 
 Mount Forster, where ! met the surj^^eon of the Terror, who 
 joined me in my excursion. At 1.45 p.m. we reached 
 the ridge above Maxwell Harbour, passing a lake and 
 over moorland ridges, and across a deep ravine. 
 
 Maxwell Harbour is land-locked, formed by three 
 islands — Hermite, Jerdan, and Saddle Islands, affording 
 a safe and commodious anchorage for a number of ships, 
 protected on the north by a long reef, and having the 
 principal entrance from the eastward ; but there is also a 
 narrow strait for boats from the southward. The shores 
 are skirted by woods, having a preity appearance from 
 the ridge above, on which we stood. The furious 
 williwaw, accompanied by a pelting shower of hail, com- 
 pelled us to seek shelter on the cover of a block of 
 granite, of which the rocks here are composed, inter- 
 mingled with greenstone. We returned across the moor- 
 land, which is studded over with small lakes, at five p.m., 
 in a hail and snow storm. Huge boulders of granite are 
 strewed along the whole line of coast. I shot a fme 
 specimen of the vulture flying over the tops of the 
 cliffs above us, also a tringa, or sandpiper, a finch, a tree- 
 sparrow, and a fringilla. The distance to Maxwell 
 Harbour is about eight miles. Got on board at seven p.m. 
 
 Friday^ 2%th. — Fine day. Employed on board skin- 
 ning birds, eleven in all. Both captains left in the gig, on 
 an excursion to Maxwell Harbour, and Captain Ross on 
 his return gave me a penguin which I had never seen 
 before, and on the following day another penguin, two 
 dotteril, and the quail-like bird of the island. The gunner 
 of the Terror found two woodcock's eggs in the wood to 
 the right of the Observatory V^alley to-day. 
 
 Tuesday ^November \st. — Being a very fine day, I landed 
 
 ;' \ 
 
 
'; i :'. 
 
 . t i 
 
 3i« 
 
 yoyages of Discovery. 
 
 t ! 
 
 i ■ 
 
 319.30 a.m. by the watercourse for the purpose of paying 
 a visit to the Fuegians at the North Bay, on the other side 
 of the island, whose wigwam I had discovered when there 
 last. My way at first lay along a deep watercourse, 
 flanked by tall trees. Reached the top of the saddle at 
 eleven a.m. ; shot three dark-coloured sylvia here. 
 Descended on the opposite side, through the dense wood, 
 to the valley running between Joachim's Cove and the 
 North Bay, the recent impression of the feet of the natives 
 directed towards the bay ; following up their footsteps led 
 me through a thick wood, guided by a watercourse, till I 
 emerged upon the rocky beach of the bay not far from 
 the wigwam. I now shaped my course round by the 
 western extreme of the bay, doubling the granitic and 
 greenstone point, fringed with trees and underwood, in 
 search of eggs ; the birds I met with were black-backed 
 gulls, grey ducks, steamers, kelp geese, and an oyster- 
 catcher or two. 
 
 Repassing the wigwam on my return, as I anticipated, 
 the Fuegians were at home. They at once came out to 
 meet me ; one, advancing towards me, proved to be the 
 young man with whom I had exchanged anchor buttons 
 for a spear on the first day of my landing in the cove. I 
 shook hands with them, and gave to each a copper nail 
 or two, with an anchor button from my handy store, 
 the uniform jacket, in reply to their ever-ready expression, 
 " Yammer-skooner." When, soon after taking leave of 
 them, I had got little more than 100 yards to the 
 eastward of the hut, a kelp goose rose from the long 
 brown grass on the bank above the shingly beach, and 
 alighted on a rock just projecting above the sea within 
 gunshot of the beach. The nest of which she had 
 betrayed the site by rising from it, contained seven eggs, 
 cosily laid in the soft down from her own breast, within a 
 tuft of the long grass. 
 
 Whilst I was in the act of stowing them away in my 
 
Successful Diplomacy with the Natives. 3 1 9 
 
 haversack, the elder of the two natives came running 
 towards me, so that my poaching on their domain had 
 not escaped their sharp and vigilant eyes. But I had 
 made up my mind not to easily part with a prize so valu- 
 able to me ; therefore, on my friend " Copper-skin " 
 beginning his " Yammer-skoonering," and, at the same 
 time very significantly pointing to my haversack, and 
 suiting the action to the word by going through the 
 pantomime of sucking eggs, smacking his lips, and 
 patting his stomach, I was left in no manner of doubt 
 of his meaning and his wishes too ; also that he was 
 fully aware of the nature of my find ; therefore I felt 
 that all my powers of diplomacy would be put to the 
 test to avoid a rupture with this unsophisticated savage, 
 and its consequences, should I refuse to give up to him 
 what he naturally, and doubtless justly enough too, 
 considered the property of himself and tribe. 
 
 Armed as I was, with a double-barrelled gun, active, 
 and self-possessed, I could have no apprehensions for 
 the result personally to myself, in the event of an attack 
 from these two poor, naked savages, provided there were 
 no others in ambush with their spears ; but at the same 
 time I felt that if I gave them provocation to attack me, and 
 that it happened, even in self-defence, one or both were 
 injured or perhaps killed, I should never after pardon my- 
 self. Such were the thoughts that made the rapid circuit 
 of my brain, when the poor goose, still perched on the rock, 
 caught my eye, and suggested the idea of a compromise, 
 and I made signs to my competitor for the eggs to that 
 effect. Frankly opening my haversack and showing him 
 the eggs, and then pointing over the hills in the direction 
 of the ship, I endeavoured to make him understand that 
 they were needed on board, and pointing my gun at the 
 goose, accompanied by significant signs, which these 
 children of nature are very expert in the interpretation of 
 from their keen instincts, left him in no doubt that the 
 
 on > 
 
320 
 
 Voyjqes of Discovery, 
 
 \\\ 
 
 goose was to be the substitute for the eggs for his dinner ; 
 and as a proof that I was right in this impression, I 
 had no sooner levelled my gun to fire than he pushed 
 me along by the shoulder nearer to the water's edge till I 
 was ancle-deep in the surf, evidently for the purpose of 
 getting me nearer to it to insure my killing it. It was 
 rather a long shot, but the bird fell winged into the 
 water. 
 
 I made signs to him now to launch his canoe, lying 
 at some distance on the beach, to retrieve it, and this 
 suggestion of mine called forth an amount of cunning and 
 observation really amusing in this poor, untutored Indian ; 
 for, pointing at once in the direction of the wind, he then 
 swept his hand round towards a curve in the coast-line 
 on which it blew direct, and picking up a bit of seaweed 
 from the shore, he shut his eyes and made a gesture, in 
 imitation of the death struggle, and moving his jaws, as 
 if in the act of mastication, implying by all this panto- 
 mime that he knew as well as I did that the wind, being 
 on the shore, would drift the bird into the curve of the 
 beach lower dawn, and that he could then get it without 
 the trouble of launching his canoe, when he would finish 
 its existence and eat it for his dinner. 
 
 All this being now amicably settled, he accompanied me 
 as far as my course lay along the sea-shore, all the way 
 goodnaturedly singing and admirably mimicking every 
 word I said, whilst not a look or gesture escaped his 
 prying gaze. We reached the point at right angles 
 with the beach, when I was about to enter the thick woods 
 through which my course lay in the direction of Mount 
 Forster for the ships. Night approaching, and not deem- 
 ing it desirable to have his companionship any further, I 
 resorted to a dodge to shake him off, which succeeded. 
 For, as I stepped from the shingly beach into the thicket, 
 I stooped to cut a good-sized sapling from a clump, well 
 aware that he would most assuredly follow suit, and 
 
■■i 
 
 'l\<<o of the A'atii'ix ionic on hoii-if. 32 1 
 
 whilst he was intently ocnipiud sloopinij clown to rut 
 his, I cinhracccl the opportunity of eittiiii; with him by 
 ^tjoodnatureilly slapping him on the shoulder with my 
 hand, and bidding him good-night, which he repeated 
 in tht? same tone of mimicry. I was soon lost to 
 his sight in the labyrinth of the woods, keeping a 
 watchful eyt! and ear, both ahead and astern of me, to 
 guard against any surprise ; getting safely on board at 
 seven p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, 2nd. — Very fine day ; a bright sun shining 
 in a clear, intensely blue sky. Last evening, as I was 
 returning over the side of Mount Forster, between the lake 
 and the opposite side, I shot a small, black creeper, ha\ ing 
 a grey pate, in a deciduous beech bush, and which 1 
 had never met with before, and one of the gallinaceous 
 or quail-like birds allied to the tinamides of South 
 America, and on the boggy ground saw four couple of 
 upland geese, a vulture, and a swallow. 
 
 This morning at 8.30 I landed upon my last excursion 
 in the island. Shot two yellow-breasted fringilla in 
 Observatory Valley ; crossed over the saddle into West 
 Valley, through the underwood of beech, rushes, and 
 grass, to the swampy ground, and a deep and rapid 
 watercourse, to the rocky point of Joachim's Bay in 
 search of eggs ; unsuccessful however. Shot a kelp goose, 
 saw two or three pairs of black-and-white oyster-catchers, 
 who, from their very clamorous manner, were doubtless 
 breeding there. Searched the southern range of grass- 
 covered hills for the quail-like bird, but in vain ; cut some 
 walking-sticks in the valley, and got on board at 
 7.30 p.m. 
 
 Sunday, 6th. — Captain Ross to-day brought on board 
 with him the two stranger natives 1 saw last evening. 
 They walked about the decks dancing and singing and 
 eating biscuit, seemingly quite happy. The captain 
 gave them two small saws and some fish-hooks, and I 
 
 vol.. I. Y 
 
 k 
 
 . ! 
 
kl 
 
 i 
 
 i* 
 
 32-^ 
 
 / 'oviii^rs of Discovirv. 
 
 tjavo tlinii a kiiift: and somr buttons, of which ihi-y aro 
 cxccc'diiii^ly fond. One of iIkiu in re'turn look a liili't 
 of beads from his head anil pri'senled nu; with it. I 
 measured their heii^lits; oiu- stood five feet one ineh, and 
 the other four feet ten inches, and they were the hest- 
 h)okin_t( we liavi; seen. 'I'hey h-ft the cove tliis evening. 
 
 Monday, "jtli. — At about seven a.m. we stood out of 
 the cove, with a line fresh brei-ze ; and as we crossed the 
 May of St, I'Vancis I took .1 sketch of the general outline 
 of I lermile Isl.uul. At nine a.m. we doubled the Horn 
 at about a league distant, and I saw the last of it at 
 four p.m., a barque in sight at the time. 
 
 Thursday, \oili. — I prescribed for Captain Ross, who 
 was very unwell. On the following day wo sounded over 
 Burwood's Shoals, the depths varying from twenty-six to 
 eighty fathoms. Next day we passed Beauchene Island, 
 the passage to the Falklands occupying a week. 
 
 Along the east coast of Tierra del Fuego, from Cvl\)c 
 ilorn, we found an undercurrent of very cold water 
 coming from the south ; and subsequently crossed the 
 line of equal temperature of the ocean throughout its 
 entire depth in lat. 55° 48', and long. 54" 40' W. ; the 
 thermometer standing at about 40" at the surface, and 
 about 39° at the intermediate depths from the surface 
 downwards ; also met with an easterly current running at 
 the rate of twenty miles a day. 
 
 .i^ ■:! .! 
 
 Ili'M 
 
 ll 
 
V 
 
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 tA 
 
 J 
 
 , I ■ 
 
 
 I 
 
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 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Summary of Hermite Island — Geology— Ornithology — Botany. 
 
 This pretty and picturesque island, named by the Dutch, 
 I beheve, after one of their early navigators, lies about 
 ten miles north-west of Cape Horn, is of irregular form, 
 deeply indented by coves and bays on either side. Its 
 shores are bold and steep, rising into peaks, such as 
 Mount Kater, to 1742 feet above the sea. Its greatest 
 length from east to west is twelve miles, and is situated 
 in the lat. of 56° S., and long, of 67° W., the variation 
 being 23° E. The rise and fall of tide in St. Martin's 
 Cove is about eight feet ; its southern extremity. Cape 
 Spencer, is next to the Horn, the southernmost point 
 of the Americas. 
 
 The geological structure is plutonic, consisting mainly 
 of granites and greenstones, the latter varying in appear- 
 ance with the relative proportions of hornblende and 
 felspar, passing into syenite. These rocks occur in very 
 irregular order, the granite, however, forms the basis, and 
 breaking out at Joachim's Cove, forms the ridge between 
 it and Cape Spencer, where it is capped by syenite, 
 composing the crater-formed summit of the promontory. 
 The granite again appears forming the low land between 
 Maxwell Harbour and the North Bay, with large boulders 
 of it piled along the beach. All the high peaks, such as 
 Mounts Kater and Forster, are constituted entirely of 
 various modifications of syenite and greenstone in which 
 
 v 2 
 
 I 
 
 'fc' 
 
1^4 
 
 Voyaocs of Discovery. 
 
 'W 
 
 M 
 
 small particles of pyrites are occasionally found dissemi- 
 nated. Some masses of purely white quartz occur in 
 and near Deep-water Bay. Huge blocks or boulders of 
 granite, traversed in many instances with veins of green- 
 stone from three inches to three feet in diameter, lie 
 scattered in the wildest confusion along the ridge termi- 
 nated by Cape Spencer. Near to South Head is a 
 clo.-jC-grained quartzose cliff, traversed by a vertical 
 greenstone dyke two feet in diameter, with a felspathic 
 vein. 
 
 The vegetation is really abundant considering the 
 bleak and stormy nature of the climate exposed to the 
 violent squalls called " williwaws," which sweep over the 
 hills from the westward in hurricane-like gusts, though 
 sometimes lasting for only a few seconds. From the 
 20th of September to the 7th of November, the period 
 we passed in St. Martin's Cove, the weather was for the 
 most part wet, either rain or snow, the prevailing winds 
 being from the N.W. and S.W., the thermometer ranging 
 from 30"^ to 56°, and the mean temperature taken from 
 our daily observations, maximum and minimum, gave 
 42'^ Fahr. ; northerly winds generally brought thick 
 weather with drizzling rain. When a fine day occurred 
 it was accompanied by an atmospheric clearness, the 
 sun shining brightly in a sky of the intensest blue, pro- 
 ducing an elasticity of feeling which rendered existence 
 on such occasions simply delightful. 
 
 The sides of the hills to within about 400 feet of their 
 summits are clothed by dense woods of the two beeches^ 
 the evergreen {Fagus Forsteri) and the deciduous 
 {Fagus antarciica), frequently attaining a height of forty 
 feet, and often having a remarkable parasite, " misiden- 
 dron," naturally engrafted on its stems, of which I noticed 
 two species. Fungi also sometimes formed globular- 
 shaped excrescences of a hard woody fibre, having a 
 wrinkled, reticulated suriace encircling one of the branches. 
 
 ««i 
 
Ilcriuitc Island Flora. 
 
 3^5 
 
 of their 
 beeches, 
 eciduous 
 
 of forty 
 misiden- 
 
 noticed 
 
 lobular- 
 
 The ordinary size of the trunks ttf these trees was about 
 one foot in diameter ; but trees were found upwards of 
 ten feet in circumference. The deciduous beech was 
 leafless at the time of our arrival, appearing amongst the 
 bright-leaved evergreen-li'Ke large patches of brown on 
 the sides of the hills and the upper portion of the valleys, 
 giving a pleasing variety and tint to the landscape. It 
 attains quite as large a size as the other kind, the stem 
 is of a dark brown, mottled over like the common hazel. 
 At the time of our departure its bright green leaves had 
 fully unfolded themselves, giving one uniform tint to the 
 woods. 
 
 The Winter's bark {Drimys Winteri) grows profusely 
 amongst the beeches, like a laurel in aspect but more 
 erect, the ordinary height being from six to seven or 
 even twelve feet ; and now and then may be seen a good- 
 sized tree, rivalling the beeches themselves in magnitude. 
 The shrubs forming the underwood consisted chiefly of 
 the holly-leaved barberry {Berbert's tlicifolia), which at 
 the time of our visit was covered with clusters of bright 
 orange-yellow flowers, the wood itself also having a deep 
 yellow tint, with the bark encrusted over with lichens. 
 It is a crooked, crawling bush as prickly as the bramble. 
 One or two other species occur bearing red berries {Ber- 
 herts parvifolia a.nd Arbutics rigi'do). The tussac grass 
 was in bloom, growing on the north shore; and the celery 
 {Apui/n graz'cole/is) was found growing on the mounds of 
 shells in abundance in the vicinity of every wigwam, yet 
 the natives did not appear to eat it. Scurvy grass (Car- 
 dnniiiie hirsuta) was very generally met with along the 
 watercourses, as was also the fascine of the Falklands. 
 
 The south-western aspect of the hills, where exposed 
 to the effects of the williwaws, are for the most part 
 barren. The bottoms of the valleys are usually clothed 
 with a tangled underwood of the dwarf beeches, inter- 
 mingled with long grass and rushes. On the low boggy 
 
 
 i" 
 
 m 
 
; i 
 
 •I 
 
 ^ \ 
 
 tH 
 
 326 I oyagcs of Discovery. 
 
 tracts the surface is studded over with tufts of a vividly 
 green plant, forming discs of various magnitudes {dona- 
 cen). Mosses and lichens flourish in the greatest 
 profusion in the woods, beautifully embossing over the 
 fallen trees in a state of decay, and in many spots 
 forming fanciful and richly embossed arches. One or 
 two very pretty species of ferns are met with, and a small 
 creeping plant bearing a red berry. 
 
 Birds are more numerous in species than in individuals ; 
 there are two kinds of hawks, a polyborus, the turkey 
 buzzard or carrion vulture, an owl, a thrush, three species 
 of fringilla or finches, three warblers {sylvia), two 
 creepers {certhia), a woodcock, and a remarkable quail- 
 like bird, in appearance and habits allied to Tina- 
 viidcs, two kinds of oyster-catchers, a dotterel, a tringa, 
 a grey duck, a seal, a steamer-duck, a cormorant, a 
 bittern, a black-backed gull, a gigantic petrel, a swallow, 
 a burrowing petrel, a penguin, a few upland geese {Anser 
 leucoptera), and the Antarctic goose, which frequents all 
 the shores. In all perhaps about thirty- four species. 
 
 Of mammalia an otter and a seal or two frequent the 
 bays, and with a mouse complete the number met with. 
 The shell-fish are limited chiefly to limpets and mussels. 
 Of insects a pretty green beetle occurred amongst the 
 moss. The birds, from their extreme shyness, are 
 evidently much harassed by the natives, and their num- 
 bers kept down by them. We met with about three 
 families, numbering in all about eighteen natives on the 
 island. 
 
 
 »! 
 
— JPI 
 
 ■^ 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Second visit to Falkland Islands— Berkeley Sound— Search for speci- 
 mens—Birds and eggs - Summary. 
 
 Mf I 
 
 Sunday, November 13//;. — Beating up against a strong 
 breeze for Port Louis in Berkeley Sound, where we 
 anchored at 5.30 p.m. in our old place. On the follow- 
 ing day the barque Governor Ilalkett, whaler, arrived, 
 on her way from New South Wales to England, having 
 amongst her passengers an old brother officer of mine, 
 Thomas Gibson, on his return from Hobart Town, where 
 he had taken out the Somersetshire, convict ship, a 
 medical superintendent. He came on board to see me 
 in our own boarding-boat, and accompanied me in m,y 
 excursion to St. Salvador Bay, where I shot three brace 
 and a half of snipe, and a dotterel, and he afterwards 
 dined on board with me. We had not met for many 
 years past, and consequently each had much to relate 
 since we were fellow-passengers in the SandwicJi packet 
 as supernumeraries for the West India Station, having 
 both entered the service at the saine time in the year 
 1823. 
 
 Tuesday, 15///. — Gibson beakfasted with me, and after- 
 wards accompanied me on a shooting excursion to the 
 head of the sound. Green Bank, and the Creek, and, 
 returning on board, dined with me at the Creek Point. 
 A steamer duck rose from a tuft of long brown grass, 
 thus discovering her nest, from which I took seven eggs. 
 
3-^« 
 
 / 'oyagci of Discovery. 
 
 \ !•! 
 
 *.'<; 
 
 !i4 
 
 and on returning found anollicr nest with four eggs, which 
 had been deserted. I shot an upland goose and gander 
 at the lake, and another goose, a brace of snipe, a 
 smaller goose, and a rabbit, at the Green Bank. An 
 immense squadron of steamer ducks were swimming 
 under the bank. We got on board at 5.30 p.m. 
 
 Thursday^ \']th, — This evening I tried the effects of 
 hydrocyanic acid on three penguins, to ascertain the 
 speediest and most humane method of ending their 
 existence. One dram of the diluted acid destroyed a 
 bird in one minute and fifty seconds. I sent Captain 
 Ross five brace of snipe. 
 
 Monday, i\st — Made a shooting excursion to Uranie 
 Bay. Shot one black-headed gull and four tern, and 
 found some steamer's eggs. 
 
 Tuesday, 22nd. — Fine day. Started at ten a.m. for 
 St. Salvador Bay. Found a steamer's nest w'ith eggs, 
 and just above high-water mark I found the first eggs of 
 the black oyster-catcher, two in number, having a whitish 
 ground, and speckled over with blackish-brown dots, 
 lying on the bare shingle. The parent birds evinced 
 great anxiety for them, crouching along the ground with 
 outspread wings, uttering lamentable cries, and would 
 not quit the spot. P'ollowing up the south arm, about 
 half way along the beach, I picked up two more eggs, 
 and soon afterwards came upon the nest of the black-and- 
 white oyster-catcher, having also two eggs, but with 
 larger blotches on an olive-coloured ground. They were 
 deposited on some dry seaweed at high-water mark. I 
 also found two tern's eggs laid in the same way in the 
 shingle, a steamer's, with five eggs, and kelper's nests, 
 one having five and the other four eggs. I found a 
 dotterel's nest, with two eggs, prettily blotched with 
 blackish-brown on an olive-green ground. They also 
 were laid in a slight depression of the ground by the side 
 of a gum-plant. The parent bird discovered them by 
 
^ 
 
 Egg-hunting lixcursion. 
 
 329 
 
 rising from her nest. I shot three brace of snipe, a 
 rabbit, a kelp goose, two grey ducks — the hitter at one 
 shot — and one tern. 
 
 Gibson and the surgeon of the Terror, who had 
 accompanied me in the excursion, dined on board with 
 me, on our return at six p.m. H.M.S. Philomel a.rn\c6. 
 here this morning at nine. 
 
 Thursday, December \st. — At 9.30 a.m. the barque 
 sailed with a fair wind, the master having come on board 
 of us for his despatches. I was employed all diiy in 
 skinning birds, and preserving eggs. 
 
 ]Vcdnesd(7y, 'jth. — Cold, raw, gloomy day, with drizzling 
 rain. Landed at nine a.m. Crossed from the head of 
 the sound to the south arm over the hills. Found two 
 black oyster-catcher's nests, with one egg in each, 
 sheltered by a small stone, a black-backed gull's with two 
 eggs in a nest of seaweed under the cliff, just above high- 
 water mark, I also found a kelper's with five eggs, but 
 as they were in an advanced state of incubation, which I 
 found out by placing one in water, I of course left 
 them in their nest. Shot a rabbit and eiirht brace of 
 snipe. I observed several snipe going through evolutions 
 in the air, at a great height, soaring upwards for a con- 
 siderable time, and then darting downwards, with a 
 whirring sound, followed in the subsequent ascent by a 
 shrill whistle or cackle, just as I have in my youth seen 
 them do in the Norfolk marshes. I shot one out of a 
 pair whilst thus going through its evolution. Returned 
 on board between seven and eight p.m. 
 
 Tuesday, i^/h. — Landed at ten a.m. on another egg- 
 hunting excursion. Found two dotterels in a depression 
 at the foot of a tuft of diddle-dee. When near the creek 
 at Salvador I shot an upland goose out of a f^ock of six 
 or seven. In a bay forming a fine, curved, sandy beach, 
 several pairs of oyster-catchers of both kinds, with some 
 tern and gulls, were hovering about. I found two tern's 
 
 ' l« 
 
 h .i'' 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 ,i.^L'^' 
 
330 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 n. 
 
 ' t 
 
 eggs in one nest, and one in another, also a black oyster- 
 catcher's, having two eggs, and a black and white one's, 
 with two eggs also. Here I witnessed a most remark- 
 able instance of affection and devotion on the part of a 
 pair of plovers Having picked up their young one, only 
 covered with down, although it could run very fast, and 
 putting it into my trout-basket I generally carry with me 
 for putting plants and eggs in, the parent birds manifested 
 an anxiety and pertinacity I never before met with, one 
 of them fluttering in front of me, flapping its pinions, and 
 convulsively throwing itself on its side, as if badly 
 wounded, utterly reckless of its own safety, and making 
 use of every device it could think of to attract my atten- 
 tion. I could no longer resist such powerful pleading, 
 and, to its delight, I permitted the young one to escape 
 from my basket. I shot a pair of grey ducks at one 
 shot, and got on board at 7.20 p.m. 
 
 The Malouines, as they have been called, are said to 
 have been first discovered by Amerigo Vespucci in the 
 year 1502, and in the year 1700, Beauchene anchored 
 off them, and Bougainville founded a settlement at Port 
 Louis in 1764. 
 
 The general aspect of the country is dreary, naked, 
 and unprepossessing in the extreme, A monotonous, 
 undulating moorland, consisting of peat-bogs, swamps, 
 and rivulets, or tracts covered with yellowish-brown grass, 
 relieved only by the central ranges of hills of grey quartz. 
 Its geology is very simple, clay-slate and greywacke, 
 passing into sandstone, and the latter again into quartz. 
 The higher ridges being of quartz, and from which the 
 so-called streams of stones descend, having the sound 
 of running water between them, or rather beneath them, 
 the clay-slate and sandstones containing abundant 
 organic remains of spirifera, orthes, orthoceratites, and 
 stems of encrinites, embedded in them, forming the 
 lower tracts, and extending from the base of the hills. 
 
I to 
 the 
 ired 
 'ort 
 
 General Aspect of the Country 
 
 oa 
 
 which attain an elevation of from 600 to 1000 feet to the 
 sea-shore, dipping at various angles, having a mean of 
 45°, and of very irregular superposition. 
 
 The vegetation is for the most part herbaceous. The 
 valleys and ravines are filled with the fascine, a bush of 
 the composite order, bearing a white blossom, attaining a 
 height of only three or four feet, and much resembling a 
 rosemary bush. The other most universally distributed 
 plant is the diddle-dee, a heathlike-looking plant, grow- 
 ing in large, spreading tufts, and bearing a red berry, 
 about the size of the cranberry, on which the upland 
 geese are fond of feeding, indeed almost exclusively in 
 the months of April and May, rendering these birds 
 delicious eating. The gum plant and the tussac grass 
 attain a height of some six feet. 
 
 The balsam bog {Bolax glebaria), belonging to the 
 order umbellifera, forms hemispherical hillocks of every 
 size, from that of a mushroom to a mass four to six 
 feet in diameter, of a bright green colour, and giving a 
 very peculiar character to the landscape, as it is thickly 
 scattered over the hills. 
 
 The birds are very similar to those of Hermite 
 Island, but more numerous and not so shy. The snipe 
 migrates from June to August, lays its eggs in September, 
 and the young birds are strong on the wing in November 
 and December. 
 
 ' 
 
 i!i i' 
 
 (IM 
 
 f 
 
 U 
 
 .LJtT' 
 
1 •! -> 
 
 Voyaocs of Piscovcry, 
 
 CHAPTliR XXXIII. 
 
 :' ' r 
 
 ! :^\ 
 
 Third attempt to reach the South Pole — Our farmyard of live stock — 
 Our Cliristmas dinner-jjarty — Icehcrgs— ],(,iiis l*hiii|)pe Island — 
 Taking possession of the Pyramidal Island — 'i'hirty-eight days in 
 the paf k. 
 
 Saturday, December i^jtli, 1842. — At 4.30 a.m. we hove 
 short, and at 6.30 a.m. weighed from lilast Falkland, 
 firing three guns, in acknowledgment of the same number 
 we were saluted with from the shore. At ten a.m. we 
 had cleared the sound under a press of canvas, all stud- 
 ding-sails set, and going before a fine westerly breeze. 
 The weather began very auspiciously for this our last 
 voyage southwards, being the finest day, with a bright 
 sun, that we have experienced of late. 
 
 Our decks formed quite a farmyard. In the boat 
 amidships five sheep were stowed away, the same 
 number of wild pigs, with a litter of young ones. In 
 the port waist were three calves, in the quarter-boat two 
 turkeys and a goose ; and a sea-stock of tussac grass as 
 food for them ; each quarter was festooned with dead 
 rabbits, geese, seal, and snipe, with a quarter of beef 
 and veal, and dried fish in every direction. Abaft the 
 quarter-deck a wild colt was tethered. With this colt 
 is associated an episode I much regret having to refer 
 to here. Yesterday I was asked how I relished a beef- 
 steak at breakfast, and my reply having been that 1 
 thought it juicy and good, barring a somewhat saline 
 impression it left on the palate, but that I had eaten 
 
 •Jfe 
 
 V 1 
 
w 
 
 Firsf Icclnt'C sciii. 
 
 » ■> ■> 
 
 much worse, when, to my surprise and astonishment, I 
 was told that I had been partaking of horse-flesh, and 
 that a young colt had been thoughtlessly, to use a mild 
 expression, shot, on the previous day, by a party from 
 the midshipmen's berth. It appears that two of those 
 beautiful wild creatures had been shot from the troop I 
 had been so often in the habit of meeting with in my 
 almost daily rambles, and a colt brought on board alive. 
 
 Now there was nothing whatever that could in any 
 way justify the taking the lives of these harmless, in- 
 offensive creatures, and it is very sad to reflect that the 
 happy life of freedom led by these noble animals in the 
 wilds of naturt! should have been closed by so wanton an 
 act of cruelty ; for we had an abundance — as I have only 
 just stated — of both fresh be(,'f and a variety of game on 
 board. I had, with my own gun, alone, contributed no 
 less than four dozen upland geese, forty brace of snipe, 
 two dozen rabbits, besides two dozen and a half of the 
 Antarctic geese, and other edible birds, teal, plover, and 
 giey ducks, without limit to our mess. 
 
 Saturday, 24///. — In lat. 61° 23', long. 52° 19', we 
 fell in with our first iceberg about nine a.m. I saw one 
 on the weather beam, three or four miles distant ; and at 
 noon another astern ; also passing some heavy pieces 
 of ice. We have had westerly gales and boisterous 
 weather. The birds acccimpanying us w^ere the wander- 
 ing albatross, cape pigeon, blue petrel, ash-backed petrel, 
 and a few stormy petrel following, as is their habit, in 
 the wake of the ship. Last night we joassed within a 
 few miles of the South Shetlands, but owing to the 
 thick state of the weather did not see them. 
 
 Sunday, 25///. — The morning was threatening, but 
 cleared up a fine Christmas Day, the latitude at noon 
 being 62° 14', long. 52" 5'. We had another heavy westerly 
 gale last night, when the ship rolled so heavily, that I found 
 a little pet of mine, a young oyster-catcher I had brought 
 
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 / 'oyai^U's of /discovery. 
 
 if 
 
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 1.. I 
 
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 If 
 
 from the Falkl.inds with rm*, unable to stand on his legs, 
 and panting and gasping for breath. Up to this time 
 he had appeared lively, and ate ri'adily ; but now he 
 only took a very small bit or two of food. lie lini^ered 
 throu^j,di the day, his eyes gradually beeoming dimmer, 
 and on my turning in at night, I found him out of his 
 basket, dead on tin; deck. 
 
 At three p.m. Captain Ross and the gentli'men from 
 the berth dim-d with us in the gunroom, the president's 
 chair falling to my lot on the occasion. Our Christmas 
 dinner was really a sumptuous one for these regions, 
 consisting of veal, calf's head, ti'al and snipe, tScc, with 
 a liberal allowance of champagne ; and after a late supper 
 I turned in at four a.m. Several bergs were seen during 
 the day, and at eight p.m. the extremes of the pack bore 
 from S.W. round to 1'], Saw the tirst white petrel to- 
 day, and on the follow' ng day we got up the crow's-nest. 
 
 Wcihiesihiy, 28///. — I counted no less than twenty 
 bcTgs around the horizon, half a dozen of them very large 
 ones. Several h;.d the appearance of having been cap- 
 sized. Two large finner whales were blowing astern of us. 
 Latitude at noon 62° 44', long. 53° 43'. About 6.30 p.m. 
 I saw Louis Philippe Land, bearing S.W. by \V. to S. 
 It appeared from the deck and ahead, a bank of misty 
 clouds suspended over it, which rendered its outline, 
 clad as it was in one dense wreath of snow, very in- 
 distinct. About a league from its eastern extremity a 
 snow-clad islet appeared, resembling a berg in the 
 distant horizon. We were now really encompassed by 
 bergs, some of them of huge magnitude, and in every 
 direction around the horizon. 
 
 As we ran along the land about eight p.m., it had the 
 appearance of one vast continuous bank of snow, per- 
 fectly smooth in outline as a snow-wreath, everywhere, 
 save where it showed the action of the waves, at the 
 margin of the sea, where bergs had been separated from 
 
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 Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Lith. 
 
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R. McCormick, R.N., del. 
 
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First, appearance of Louis Phillippe Land, like a vast bank of snow, surm 
 
 
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 surmounted by a peak 2,000 feet in altitude. 
 
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 PAOB 334— VOL. I. 
 
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Pack'icc close and heavy. 
 
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 it. From the centre it gradually sloped down to a point, 
 running out very low and long to either extremity of the 
 island. In one bearing only could a particle of the land 
 itself be seen, and that was at the hiirhest elevation of 
 the ridge, appearing like two very small oval hummocks 
 close together. 
 
 As we neared the southern extremity, five black-look- 
 ing, small, low islands formed a chain at various distances 
 from the low point, and in the midst of a labyrinth of 
 bergs ; some of these so darkly shaded as to be with 
 difficulty distinguished from the islands themselves at a 
 distance. We passed the last of them, distant some six 
 or seven miles, about midnight. When I turned in, the 
 highest part of the mainland I estimated at 2000 feet, 
 and we passed within about three leagues of it. Many 
 whales where spouting, and I noticed a seal on the top of a 
 berg, also a chionis and a lestris. Penguins were cawing 
 and quarking in all directions, sometimes jumping out of 
 the water like skip-jacks, and moving along in a line or 
 single file like that of fish. On one berg I noticed 
 upwards of 100 collected on the summit. 
 
 Thursday^ 2gtli. — Fogs and southerly winds, and a 
 current setting N.N.W. half a mile an hour. Sounded 
 in 162 fathoms, sand and small black stones. At six 
 p.m. tacked close off the pack-edge, our progress in this 
 quarter obstructed by it. About eight p.m. I saw a 
 very long, large berg, its shadowy outline but just visible 
 through the fog ahead ; passed it to port. Our wild colt 
 died to-day, apparently from cold and confinement in a 
 cramped space ; poor thing, so different from its life of 
 freedom among its fellows ! A hard fate. 
 
 Friday, 30///. — Pack close and heavy, extending from 
 east to west ; tacking about off its edge observed several 
 large bergs within it. At three p.m. we passed the six 
 islands we saw on the 28th, the largest, bearing N.W., 
 having a remarkable broad belt of snow down it. At 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
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 1 
 
 1 
 
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 '1 
 
 I, I 
 
 
 I 
 
33<^ 
 
 I 'i'vaj^i's of Discovery, 
 
 ■■ :«;■■ ■ 
 
 1 1 
 
 I 1 
 
 5.30 p.m. I saw th'j extremes of the land from North 
 CajDe to south extreme, and a pyramidal-shaped island 
 bore W. by S. Working to windward through lanes of 
 water towards the land, blowing fresh ; the mainland in 
 W.S.W., high, covered with snow, having only a few black 
 promontories of rock peeping out near the coast-line, 
 which was indented with two or three deep inlets filled 
 with ice and snow ; lat. d';^ 36', long. 54° 33'. My pet 
 dotterel died to-day. 
 
 Saturday, 315/.-- Fine clear day. I took a sketch of 
 t!;.' land : one portion had all the appearance of black 
 lav. A streams in terraces singularly waved in outline to 
 the ..-uthward, and having a small crater-formed hill. 
 Here I'le fdack rock appeared conspicuously through the 
 "lantle <■ !•. nv : a yellow blink indicated the trending 
 of i,e let.'", ri '"r'/v way, apparently forming a deep bight. 
 Sounded in 20 y uilhoms, green mud. Fine clear night : 
 I sat up and saw the old year out and the new one in. 
 Many whales about us. 
 
 Sunday^ January isf, 1843.— We were not destined to 
 cross the Antarctic Circle this New Year's Day, as on our 
 preceding trips to the southward ; but found ourselves, 
 by observations at noon, only in the lat. of 64° 14', long. 
 55° 54'» ^^'•^'^ Louis Philippe Land on one side of us and 
 closely packed ice on the other. Many of the hills to- 
 day had the appearance of smoke issuing from them, 
 probably caused by the ascent of light vapoury clouds 
 or small particles of fine drift snow. The weather was 
 delightful ; a bright sun shone forth in a clear blue sky, 
 with scarcely a breath of wind, rendering the opening of 
 water between the ice smooth as a lake. Large bla_k 
 whales numerous. 
 
 Three grey seals and three small penguins were 
 caught. At 1 .30 p.m. I went on board the 7 error with 
 Captain Ross, returning again In about an hour. We 
 had all of us our New Year's Day's dinner in the cabin 
 
 MMCWrMMiHiiSMi 
 
IJ 
 
 North 
 
 isl'ind 
 Ines of 
 (and in 
 
 black 
 |st-lint', 
 
 filled 
 ly pet 
 
 iVJti. 
 
 Off Pyramidal Island, Levis Philippe L and. :i^2>'j 
 
 with Captain Ross at four p.m., and broke up at mid- 
 night. Ice close and heavy; saw an immensely long 
 barrier berg, quite flat topped as a table, and exceeding 
 five miles in length. The customary warm clothing was 
 served out to the officers and ship's company. 
 
 Monday, 2nd. — We got beset within the edge of the 
 pack, and I walked over the surrounding ice for about a 
 mile, as far as the western edge of the floe ; the surface 
 soft and hummocky, sinking up to the knees in places. 
 I saw a white, or albino, gigantic petrel, and caught a 
 small penguin. At 3.30 p.m. a boat was lowered after 
 we had cast off from the ice, and three of the larger 
 kinds brought on board. 
 
 Thursday, ^tli. — Quite a summer day, so mild and 
 calm, with a bright sun. Standing in for the land, through 
 lanes of open water, saw a great number of the large 
 whales spouting. What a fine field this would afford for 
 the whale ships. A flock of fifty or sixty white petrel 
 soared to a great height to-day. We were off the en- 
 trance to what appeared to be a large strait, running deep 
 up, and having high bold land on the starboard side, and 
 a bay filled with ice near its entrance. On the port side 
 the land covered with snow sloped down to the upper 
 extremity, where it seemed to cross rather than unite 
 with the opposite side ; the breadth of the en.trance might 
 be from four to five leagues. This strait separates Join- 
 ville from Louis Philippe Land, off which lies a bold, 
 black-looking island (Pyramidal Island, 2760 feet high), 
 rising steeply from the sea, and terminating in a fine 
 peak, having a well-marked crater-formed summit almost 
 bare of snow. At its base a large colony of penguins 
 had established their rookery. I took a sketch of the 
 land, and at 6.15 p.m, I went up to the crow's-nest for 
 the first time this season, to have a look at the top of the 
 strait. It appeared to be pretty free from ice, and what 
 few streams there were, fast setting out of it. It was a 
 
 VOL. I. Z 
 
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 f! 
 
 J' I 
 
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 ..'^^J^ 
 
33^ 
 
 VoyiV^es of Discovery. 
 
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 U'i5 
 
 1 1 i I: 
 
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 lovely evenini^ ; the sea smooth as a lake, scattered over 
 with loose ice ; but all round the horizon the pack ap- 
 peared close and heavy, the open water being only in- 
 shore, a long chain of bergs extending along the coast 
 to the northward. 
 
 Friday, 6tli. — Fine day, at ten a.m., when about two 
 miles from the Pyramidal Island at the entrance to the 
 strait, both captains landed at the penguin rookery, 
 and shortly afterwards a boat from each ship with a 
 party of officers ; and they returned about noon, after 
 hoisting the union jack and taking possession of the 
 island. 
 
 I never more keenly felt the effects of the narrow- 
 minded policy existing in this expedition ; by which I 
 mean the carrying out to the very letter the ordinary 
 routine orders of the general service ; that is, that each 
 ship should not be left without a medical officer on 
 board ; although, as in the present instance, if any 
 accident were to occur during the brief temporary ab- 
 sence of the medical officer, a signal could be made from 
 the ships, and his return ensured almost as soon as the 
 recall was made. 
 
 1 personally endeavoured to urge upon Captain Ross, 
 making use of all the influence I might possess with him 
 after so long a service together as ours had been, that 
 this was an occasion when such an order might well be 
 set aside for the benefit and good of the special service 
 we were employed upon. I pointed out to him that such 
 a fine opportunity might never occur again for examining 
 the remarkable crateriform peak now in sight of us, with 
 its surroundings, more especially the incubation of the 
 rare birds now breeding there, and their eggs, so great a 
 desideratum to the ornithologist; such as the Antarctic 
 or great penguin, the chionis, the white petrel, and the 
 new species of lestris of the south. I said, as it was 
 Dr. Hooker's turn now to land, his time would be more 
 
 I u 
 
 (a^ T> --%4«u>a\<« 
 
Took a sketch of the /ion'::on all round the " Erebus. 
 
 339 
 
 than taken up with the botanical researches ; and unless 
 I had an opportunity of landing, all else would be neces- 
 sarily lost to us. But unhappily my appeal failed in its 
 object, and during the absence of the party I was left 
 to glean all I could through the medium of the telescope 
 from the deck of the ship. 
 
 At eight p.m. the captain of the Terror came on board, 
 and we all spent Twelfthnight in the cabin with Captain 
 Ross; regaled with wine, grog, and the customary 
 twelfth-cake. Working ship between the chain of bergs 
 and land two miles to windward. 
 
 Sunday, 8t/i. — Foggy, thick weather ; had to keep 
 company with the Terror by means of fog-signals, firing 
 muskets, with bells and gongs going. Between seven and 
 eight p.m. we passed through a narrow channel between 
 an immense berg and the floe-ice rapidly closing, towed 
 by two of the boats ahead. I saw one of the large 
 penguins on the floe walking away upright as a dart, in the 
 most grave and grotesque manner, looking like an old 
 monk going to mass, with a group of the smaller kind on 
 the same piece of ice with him. We made fast to various 
 large pieces of ice during the day, and one piece, having 
 a quantity of dark mud on it, drifted close alongside of 
 us ; and whilst we were watering the ship from it, in 
 searching the layer of mud I discovered a fine specimen 
 of silicious rock, of a bottle-green colour, very hard, 
 ponderous, and close-grained — a large fragment. 
 
 Friday, I'^th. — Fine day. Beating up for the land-ice, 
 tacking about in open pools of water, surrounded on all 
 sides by closely packed ice, or large bergs, the extreme 
 of the land bearing W. by S., a bleak point running out 
 horizontally from a black, bluff clifl^, showing its rugged 
 sides through the mantle of snow and ice. This forenoon 
 our surroundings were so striking and peculiar, that I took 
 a very fanciful sketch of the horizon all round, making the 
 ship the central object of a circle. 
 
 Z 2 
 
 
 (M 
 
 \W'. 
 
 . 
 
 ^U^,:M^ 
 
340 
 
 I'oya^is of Discovery. 
 
 \A 
 
 '( 1 i 
 
 \\s^,\ 
 
 \ 
 
 .1 \ 
 
 kil- 
 
 ful'ii 
 
 At 2.30 p.m. an umisually strong current drifted us to 
 the eastward, upon the edge of the pack, where we made 
 fast to a large floe, the most level and smooth piece we 
 have as yet met with ; this drifted with us very near the 
 large berg, having two caves in its side. The loose ice 
 drifted down so rapidly with the force of the tide, that we 
 were very soon beset, and had to warp along the edge of 
 the floe till 5.30 p.m. before we got into open water. 
 Saw a seal on the ice and another in the water. We left 
 the Terror beset, about half a cable's length from us ; 
 made sail and ran out into an open pool between two 
 bergs to the W. N.W. Lost sight of the Terror^ concealed 
 by the berg, from which she got clear about midnight. 
 
 Saturday^ \\th, — The captain of the /Vr/'tf/' came on 
 board. Poinding the ice so close and heavy to the south- 
 ward, with the long chain of bergs, and no prospect of 
 penetrating any further in that quarter, we bore up, and 
 at 1.45 p.m. entered the pack with a fair wind and tide. 
 We made but slow progress, however, warping and boring 
 through the heavier portions, and running through the 
 small pools of water. Saw several of the young of the 
 large penguins swimming near the bows to-day, with a 
 grey seal or two on the ice. At nine p.m. both ships 
 became beset close to each other. 
 
 Monday^ \6th. — Cloudy, and nearly a calm, closely 
 beset with heavy ice all round. Four seals were killed 
 near the ships. At 3.30 p.m. sounded in sixty fathoms, 
 green mud ; two more seals killed. Saw several gigantic 
 petrel on the ice. In the afternoon I went upon the 
 floe with my gun, and shot a seal about a cable's length 
 ahead of the ship: the ball went through his body under 
 the left fore-flipper, and although he bled profusely he 
 managed to wriggle himself into the water not twenty 
 paces off, and not having a second ball in the other barrel 
 1 tried to stop his way by firing a charge of small shot 
 under his flipper, which was followed by a torrent of the 
 
 M 
 
Change of position outside the chain of ber^^s. 341 
 
 crimson stream, so that he must have expin;d on his 
 plunge into the water. The seal, unless shot through 
 the brain or heart, is so tenacious of life, that if the 
 water happens to be near it will generally manage to reach 
 it before it breathes its last. I walked to the opposite 
 side of the flioe and along the margin on the land side for 
 about a mile, and on returning struck across it for the 
 ships ; lost my powder-flask, and got on board at six p.m. 
 
 After tea I took the same ramble again, and found 
 my powder-flask. Observed one or two cracks in the floe, 
 and along its margin, where fragments of ice were piled 
 one upon another like blocks of stone in a wall, (he effect 
 of pressure from former tides. The tide was now setting 
 with great rapidity, the brash, small bits of ice, being 
 carried along like a sluice between the floe and a berg. 
 Soon after my return on board, the floe to which the ships 
 were made fast suddenly parted into three pieces, and the 
 canals formed by the breaking up rapidly widened. We 
 drifted fast in shore, and to the northward. Night thick, 
 with a fall of snow. 
 
 Tuesday, ip/i. — Still drifting about amongst the floe- 
 pieces of? the chain of bergs and the pack. I went upon 
 the floe and caught two small penguins, knocking one 
 down with a stick. At 3.30 p.m. we cast off, and made 
 sail to the north-east. I saw about 100 penguins con- 
 gregated together in-shore in a knot, and whilst I was 
 watching them they marched off in single file, and dis- 
 appeared amongst the hummocks. We drifted within 
 two or three miles of the shore, passing an inlet, and, as 
 we approached the point, opened Pyramidal Island. The 
 very long berg also came in sight, and the only change 
 in our position is that we are now outside instead of being 
 inside the chain of bergs and the shore, as we were last 
 week. The whales are very numerous in this locality. 
 
 Sunday, 22//^'.— Hove-to most of the day in a pool of 
 water. The whales very numerous again to-day ; and I 
 
 I. 1/ 
 
 1 .. 
 
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■^ 
 
 l^wflps; 
 
 ^ — 
 
 I 
 
 342 
 
 J 'ovifXi'-'' of Discovery, 
 
 i!?l 
 
 
 Ml 
 
 ' rl* W 
 
 liifi! 
 
 % 
 
 witnessed this evenin|j; a singular habit of the birds 1 had 
 never before noticed. A flock of about 100 Cape pt-tr.-l 
 following the whales, hovered over their wake in the 
 water, and the whale had no sooner risen to the sur'^"'" 
 to blow than these birds pounced down in a body intc 
 very jet of vapoury spray sent up by him in a broad 
 column, when a momentary scramble commenced for 
 somethini^ they obtained from the water, either small 
 creatures discharged in the jet, or parasites attached to 
 his skin ; or probably both, as in one instance I saw two 
 birds alight on the whale's back, but from which they were 
 almost as soon unshipped by his diving below the surface ; 
 although only to come up again a few fathoms farther 
 off for another blow, which the petrels anticipating, 
 followed close in his wake, all ready for another scramble 
 as he rose again above the surface of the deep. 
 
 Wednesday, 2$th. — Saw Pyramidal Island. A .so' v 
 lestris flew over the mast-head, glancing down c. 
 deck with that keen, inquisitive look so peculiar to this 
 most rapacious bird, and then instantly shaping his course 
 for the land direct, was seen no more. I also saw a 
 group of the small piebald whales, having a long, black, 
 scimitar-shaped fin appearing high above the water. 
 
 Friday, 27///. — Being a calm all day, the boat was 
 employed towing the ship ahead, to keep her clear of 
 the lee-ice, and I took advantage of this to obtain 
 some specimens which I had hitherto not been able to 
 do since we left England ; and between two and three p.m. 
 I succeeded in shooting no less than six stormy petrel 
 i^Procellaria pelagira) from the stern of the ship, and also 
 a Cape petrel, all of which were picked up for me by the 
 towing-boat during the first watch. I saw seven penguins 
 soundly sleeping on the ice whilst resting on their breasts, 
 and stretched out at full length, the head and beak both 
 in a horizontal position. 
 
 On skinning the six stormy petrel on the following day, 
 
 -'».^?^,.-«:t\! 
 
Once more in the open Sea. 
 
 343 
 
 I found all their breasts bare of feathers, a si^ii that they 
 had been recently incubating'. Captain Ross hitnsi-lf, 
 following my example, was employed to-day in shooting 
 three or four from the stt.'rn. 
 
 Monday^ ^^otli. — Fine day. I gave Captain Ross one 
 of my own specimens of the stormy petrel. A boat was 
 sent on board the Terror^ with orders that in the event 
 of our separation she should, after the 7th of February, 
 make the rendezvous on Weddell's track. 
 
 Saturday, February i\th. — Weather overcast, with snow. 
 About noon a heavy squall from the north-east indicated 
 that we were in the vicinity of open water. Made sail, 
 and bored the ship through the streams of ice, getting 
 clear of the pack in the afternoon after some heavy 
 thumping from the ice. Between five and six p.m. we 
 were once more on the open ea, with a heavy swell 
 setting from the north-east, after a detention of thirty- 
 eight days, beset between the pack, the chain of bergs 
 and the land, encountering baffling winds sometimes in 
 our teeth. 
 
 Friday, 10///. — When I went on deck after breakfast 
 this morning I distinctly saw the pack margining the 
 horizon to leeward, and apparently very close and heavy. 
 In the afternoon a strong ice-blink was observable from 
 S. by E. \ E. to E. i N. Weather gloomy. On the 
 following day we passed through some loose ice off the 
 pack, and close to a large berg. Overcast and gloomy 
 weather, with snow. 
 
 Sunday, \2th. — Gloomy weather, with snow; passing 
 through much loose ice. We have had several blue 
 petrel about the ship for the last few days. 
 
 , 
 
344 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 i;!l 
 
 It ' r 
 
 i , J 
 
 i)) 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Our highest latitude 71'' 30', and longitude 14° 51' 10"- We complete 
 the circumnavigation of the globe and cross the circle— Deep-sea 
 soundings— J^y avoiding Weddell's track we (liil to reach his 
 latitude — liirds — The comet of 1843, 
 
 Tuesday, i^f/i. — This day we attained the highest latitude 
 during this season's voyage, being at noon in 65° 6', and 
 crossed Weddell's homeward track (from 74° 15') in the 
 long, of 41°, having a heavy pack to the southward, with 
 a strong ice-blink all round from E. to W.S.W. ; sailing 
 among loose ice off the pack, contending with a strong 
 wind ; so that our prospects at this advanced period of 
 the season are anything but promising. Weather over- 
 cast. 
 
 JVcdnesday, i^^li- — Gloomy and overcast weather. 
 Still passing through loose ice streaming off from the 
 pack, with strong breezes and a long swell from the 
 north-east. The ice here presents a vc^y altered appear- 
 ance, evidently caused by the continued action of the 
 waves on the slowly melting ice, the pieces of ice assum- 
 ing every possible fantastic form, some in the shape of 
 pedestals rising from a broad expanded blue tongue 
 beneath the surface, and supporting a cupola, or table- 
 topped summit, resembling vases or gigantic mushrooms, 
 in others, flat slabs piled on each other at various angles. 
 I saw two tern fly past the ship to-day ; and two large 
 penguins were seen by the watch. 
 
 Saturday, \S//i. — We this morning completed the 
 circumnavigation of the globe in lal. 62' 39' and long. 
 
 i ^s 
 
Cross I he Antarctic Circle. 
 
 345 
 
 31° 44', dip 59° 1 1', and variation 7° 22'. Sailing through 
 much loose ice off the pack-edge, a berg or two in sight, 
 going three knots with a south-easterly wind, the course 
 being E.N.E. ; thermometer 32°. 
 
 Monday, 20th. — This day, now twenty years ago, 
 Weddell reached his highest latitude, about seven degrees 
 to the westward of the longitude we are in to-day. Yet 
 we have met with a continuous line of pack since our 
 departure from Louis Philippe Land. 
 
 Wednesday, 22nd. — We crossed the line of no varia- 
 tion at noon, being 0° 12' W., and lat. 61'' 37', long. 21° 
 51', dip 57" 40'. 
 
 Wednesday, March 1st. — We have at last crossed the 
 Antarctic Circle, and for a third time on the first day of 
 the month, although, unfortunately for us, not the same 
 month as on our two preceding trips to the southward ; 
 but two months later, and the season closing in just at 
 the moment we have the prospect before us of a fine open 
 sea, and perhaps, for all we know to the contrary, to the 
 pole itself. Our lat. at noon was 67° 6', long. 8° 35', dip 
 62° 42', and var. 8° 1 2'. Weather dry and bracing. 
 Sketched two large bergs. 
 
 Thursday, 2nd. — This has been by far the finest day 
 that we have experienced since our departure from the 
 Falklands : a clear blue, cloudless sky, with a bright sun, 
 light winds, and a long swell. It is a curious fact that 
 we have always met with the finest weather within the 
 Antarctic Circle. At 7.25 p.m. we had most brilliant 
 sunset, *he parting rays from the luminous sphere, as it 
 appeared for a moment to roll along the waters ere it 
 dipped beneath them, in a clear horizon, were dazzling, 
 and reflected a singular bronzed kind of neutral tint on 
 the light hazy clouds in the opposite horizon. 
 
 Saw a tern and a sooty albatross or two, and a number 
 of large whales sporting about, spouting up jets of vapour 
 and spray to the height of from twelve to twenty feet. 
 
iHi 
 
 ;46 
 
 Voj'aovs of Discovery 
 
 5 ! 
 
 \\y 
 
 I '^ 
 
 ' I! 
 
 •! : i 
 
 i h ' 
 
 luV, !' 
 
 ,> 1 
 
 Willfl' 
 
 u 
 
 Friday, yd. — Both cutters were lowered at one p.m., 
 and the two captains left their ships to superintend the 
 deep soundings. After running out 4000 fathoms of line 
 off the reel, which occupied an hour and fifty minutes, 
 no bottom was obtained, and 250 fathoms of one inch 
 and 3750 fathoms of three-quarter inch, with a pig of 
 ballast were expended. The current ran 0° 3' per hour. 
 Whilst the boats were away sounding I shot a blue petrel 
 from the ship's deck, but it fell into the sea, drifted 
 astern and was lost, which was vexatious, for this 1 believe 
 is the first bird of the kind shot throughout the whole 
 period of the expedition. They are never met with in 
 the pack-ice. I saw several whales, but birds are very 
 scarce. 
 
 Saturday, ^th. — Gloomy day, but wind fair for the 
 south ; yet we are shaping a south-westerly course to 
 avoid the track of our enterprising predecessor Weddell. 
 This prejudice on the part of the commander of the 
 expedition is to be deplored, but from the first there 
 has been a disposition not to follow in the track of 
 others, which together with having already frittered 
 away the best part of the season in the vain effort to 
 force a passage between the perilous chain of stranded 
 bergs and the broken land of Louis Philippe, mainly for 
 the sake of a display of some new land of a trifling 
 character on the chart, cost us the season, and 
 ultimately proved fatal to our attaining even so high 
 a latitude as that of Weddell himself: apart from 
 the daily risk to the ships, knocking about for 
 weeks together in narrow channels and pools of water, 
 beset with strong currents, pent up between a chain 
 of grounded bergs and a most dangerous coast. 
 Indeed, I believe there were few on board either of the 
 ships, if they candidly expressed an opinion, ever enter- 
 tained the shadow of a hope that we could ever make 
 our way further south through the inextricable difficulties 
 

 Atiaiii our Jiighcst Latitude. 
 
 547 
 
 of a course so ill-advlsedly adopted and so pertinaciously 
 followed up in this our last attempt to reach the South 
 Pole. I saw a solitary white petrel which had frequently 
 flown past the ship during the day, a sure harbinger of ice 
 not being far off. 
 
 Sunday, ^iJi. — Upon going on deck after breakfast I 
 saw the pack very distinctly margining the horizon to 
 leeward on the starboard beam, apparently very heavy 
 ice, having a very large berg lying off it. Weather over- 
 cast and hazy, but through which a glance of the sun 
 at noon enabled us to secure an observation, which gave 
 the lat. 71° 10' S., being about Cook's farthest ; our 
 long, was 15° 47', dip 65" 21', var. 2° 23'. We continued 
 on with a fresh breeze from the north-east till four p.m., 
 when we were again arrested by the pack-edge, passing 
 through some heavy streams of ice off it, and by several 
 large bergs. 
 
 The season being so far advanced, the ensign was 
 hoisted in each ship, and we bore up on our final 
 departure frrom these regions of ice and snow, in which 
 we have now passed three seasons. We had snow- 
 showers during the day, the maximum temperature 32°, 
 min. 29°; that of the sea 32° and 30°. Saw several 
 white petrel and a large flock of blue ones swimming in 
 the water. I also saw a Cape petrel or two, and a pair 
 of brown and white ones. Our furthest south, when 
 we bore up at four p.m., was 71° 30', and long. 14° 51' 
 W. The pack extended from S.W. by W. round by 
 S. to N.E. by E. A cask was thrown overboard con 
 taining a paper with the latitude and longitude, signed 
 by the captain and oflicers. I went on deck just as 
 the ship tacked, to take a last look at the pack, which 
 now appeared astern and on the starboard quarter. 
 
 Monday, 6th. — Blowing a gale of wird in our teeth, 
 with the pack in dangerous proximity to U^eward, and off 
 which we wore ship at six p.m., distant a quarter of a 
 
348 
 
 I 'oyuqes of Discovery 
 
 f . 
 
 m. 
 
 ii. <> 
 
 ! 1 
 
 Mi 1 
 
 I i 
 
 ^i:! 
 
 mile. It extended from N.W. by W. to S.W. At 
 4.10 p.m. again wore ship. 
 
 Tuesday, ']th. — Last night, blowing hard, with a heavy 
 sea running, which with the thick weather rendered our 
 situation by no means a desirable one. Passed close to 
 windward of a large berg, in the middle watch, it being 
 difficult to make them out at any great distance. The 
 headwind fell suddenly to a calm at midnight, and we 
 wore ship. 
 
 Friday, \otli. — The crow's-nest was got down to- 
 day. Passed several large bergs ; strong breezes, going 
 six and seven knots. About two p.m. I shot a Cape 
 petrel, hovering over the weather quarter, when it fell 
 dead aft, on the port side of the quarter-deck ; this 
 indeed is the only bird I have shot within the Antarctic 
 Circle this season, the latitude at the time being 68^ 
 and long. 15" west. Several blue petrel about. I signed 
 a paper this evening, to be thrown overboard in a cask, 
 on our recrossing the circle. Between nine and ten p.m. 
 I saw for the first time this voyage, the Aurora Australis, 
 consisting of one rav only, of a pale yellow tint, rising 
 from a bank of dark clouds in the west, to the altitude 
 of about 20", at an angle of 40". Night starlight. Saw 
 the Southern Cross. 
 
 Saturday, wtlt. — At 6.30 a.m. crossed the Antarctic 
 Circle for the last time, and the cask was thrown over- 
 board with the signed paper, in long, 13'' 16' W. In 
 the first watch about four bells, 1 had the first sight of 
 the moon, or rather her rays, for she was concealed 
 behind a dark cloud about 3° abovi' the horizon. 
 
 Tuesday, \\th. — Cloudy, with a fine fair wind, going 
 before it at the rate of five knots under a crowd of 
 canvas, royals and studding-sails low and aloft. Bent a 
 new main-sail and fore-sail. Passed an unusual number 
 of bergs to-day, certainly not fi'wcr than half a hundred, 
 large and small. 1 skctchi'd oni' 'im^; imposing-looking 
 
uu 
 
 First appearance of the Comet of 1843. 349 
 
 specimen which was seen twenty miles off; it was, I 
 think, one of the highest we have ever met with, con- 
 siderably over 200 feet in altitude, having two caverns in 
 it, into which the surf was heavily breaking. As we 
 passed within about a mile of it, on the port beam, I saw 
 a large albatross [DioiuciUa cxulens), for the first time on 
 this voyage. We have not met with many birds of late, 
 only a few Cape and blue petrel, some sooty albatrosses, 
 and a brown and white and ash-backed petrel or two. 
 
 Friday, \']t/i. — Signed a paper with the latitudes and 
 longitudes thrown overboard in a cask at noon. 
 
 Alo/iday, 20th. — At noon exactly, we crossed the 
 meridian of Greenwich ; lat. 54° 7', long, o', dip 55° 8', 
 var. 1 7° 50' ; consequently our time is at this moment 
 precisely the same with that of England. We are now 
 steering a course to look out for Bouvette's Island. 
 
 Tuesday, 21st. — Blowing a gale all day. Took a 
 sketch of a large berg, when two miles on the starboard 
 bow, as it towered high above the rolling surge. Between 
 eight and nine p.m. I saw what appeared the other 
 evening to have been a single pale ray of the aurora in 
 the west, shooting upwards at an angle of about 45°, and 
 at an altitude of about 30° on a clear and starlight night. 
 This afterwards proved to be the remarkable comet of 
 1843, with a tail extending from the horizon to near the 
 zenith, and passed so near the sun as almost to graze 
 its surface, and when at its perihelion, might be seen in 
 broad daylight. From spectrum observations, comets 
 would appear to be both self-luminous and to reflect the 
 sun's light. 
 
 Wednesday, 22nd. — Blowing a heavy gale all day, with 
 overcast weather and snow. Having looked for Bou- 
 vette's Island where it is laid down in the charts, without 
 seeing anything of it, we shaped our course for the Cape 
 of Good Hope. 
 
 Thursday, 23^^.— Still blowing a gale of wind, with a 
 
350 
 
 Voyagrs of Discovery, 
 
 ; :\ 
 
 U, ■ 
 
 ir.' 
 
 ■ I 
 
 I 'i' 
 
 in • \ 
 
 i \: 
 
 heavy sea running. A lari^e berg appeared very in- 
 distinctly through the mist, which I watched the approach 
 of for upwards of an hour, till we passed it on the port 
 side, or rather, weather bow ; a little before noon, a 
 tremendous surf was breaking over it to windward. I 
 sketched three different views of it. Two fine large 
 albatrosses, and the elegant little stormy petrel were 
 flying about the ship, with some Cape^ black, and also 
 blue petrel, and a dusky albatross or two. Hove-to 
 again at night. 
 
 Friday^ 24///. — The gale abated last night ; fell in with 
 the long stems of the Fucus gigantca seaweed, called 
 after the naturalist of Duperrey's expedition, Lessonuc, or 
 Macrocysti pyrifcni, and saw several sheerwater. Passed 
 a berg on the starboard quarter, during the first watch. 
 
 Saturday^ 25///. — Fine, with strong breezes, ship going 
 nine knots. Passed a small berg, about half a mile to 
 windward, in the forenoon : the last seen. At eight p.m. 
 rounded-to for the night. 
 
 Tuesday, 2S//1. — Very fine day. Ship hove-to, to get 
 the temperature of the sea at 1200 fathoms, and at 
 two p.m. a boat having been lowered and sent to the 
 Terror I took the opportunity so afforded of going on 
 board. Dined with the gunroom officers, and returned 
 on board again at three p.m. I faintly saw the comet 
 again to-day. 
 
 Saturday, April \st. — The day was so fine and warm 
 that I was induced to change my Antarctic rig for one 
 more in keeping with the climate we are now in. On the 
 following morning saw a barque, the first sail we have 
 seen since we lelt the Falklands. 
 
 t!' '■■ 
 
 ,.:r 
 
'Ilf 
 
 351 
 
 k^^ry in- 
 jproach 
 le port 
 [loon, a 
 fard. I 
 It." large 
 were 
 |nd also 
 love-to 
 
 in with 
 
 , called 
 
 nice, or 
 
 'assed 
 atch. 
 P ^'oing 
 mile to 
 lit p.m. 
 
 S to get 
 and at 
 : to the 
 aing on 
 eturned 
 comet 
 
 1 warm 
 or one 
 On the 
 t have 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Summary of the last voyage south— Astronomical observations— The 
 vast barrier of ii c and tiie continent beyond. 
 
 In this brief retrospect of our proceedings during our 
 third and final attempt to reach the Antarctic Pole, I can 
 only repeat my own conviction that our main want of 
 success too evidently rested with the course we had been 
 so unfortunate as to adopt, rather than follow in the 
 wake of Weddell, who had, with the limited means at his 
 disposal, attained the high latitude of 74°, with a fine, 
 open sea, free of ice as far as the eye could reach in the 
 horizon view, and had not the interests of his owners in 
 his small vessels, ostensibly employed in the seal-fishery, 
 hampered him with responsibility, he might probably 
 have made even a much nearer approach to the pole. 
 His meridian was 40°, ours 55° W., the meridian of 
 Cape Horn, on which we made the attempt, along 
 a very intricate navigation of the shores of that group 
 of land called in the charts South Shetlands, barren 
 islands and rocks flanked by tiers of huge icebergs 
 aground, between which and this forbidding, desolate, 
 iron-bound coast, rapid currents ran like a race through 
 the narrow, and often tortuous, channels, with which, 
 together with tempestuous gales, amid snowstorms, sleet, 
 and fogs, both ships had to buffet for so many weeks, in 
 the vain hope of forcing a passage through to a higher 
 latitude, and the temptation offered for thus adding 
 
353 
 
 / 'oyai^is of Discovery, 
 
 If; ■■ '^ 
 
 :.h 
 
 'i \' 
 
 > ' 
 
 
 !^l-? . 4 
 
 r *ir 
 
 perhaps some few new lands to the chart. But after all 
 our efforts the short navij^able season closed upon us, 
 and we were no nearer the pole than on the day on which 
 we first made this ill-omened land. A hopeless attempt 
 was at last made to i^et upon the track of Weddell, which, 
 from the lateness of the season and unfavourable winds, 
 was now so encumbered with vast drifting packs of ice, 
 amid dense fogs and gales, that it barred our course, and 
 precluded all chance of even attaining the latitude of our 
 predecessor, and with no small difficulty that of Captain 
 Cook in 71°, when we had to bear up and bid a final 
 adieu to Antarctic lands, packs, bergs, and seas. 
 
 Happily for us the attempt in our first voyage south 
 was rewarded by the discovery of a mighty southern 
 continent, dwarfing the quarters of the old world, and 
 rivalling the new one in its stupendous magnitude and 
 general aspect, capping the pole by lofty mountain 
 ranges, sustaining altitudes varying from 5000 to 
 upwards of 1 2,000 feet ; two magnificent volcanoes 
 crowning all, arrayed in an armour of everlasting ice ; a 
 glaciation as complete as ever occurred to the opposite 
 hemisphere in ages past. The perpetual-snow line de- 
 scends to the very beach. The constant presence of ice 
 and snow keeps the thermometer at the freezing-point ; 
 consequently no kind of vegetation exists, not even a 
 seaweed on its barren shores ; and but for the animal 
 life which animates the ocean, whales, seals, penguins, 
 &c., and sea-birds winging their way through the air, or 
 skimming the ice-embossed surface of the deep, all would 
 be as desolate and silent as the tomb. 
 
 It is even conceivable in such a state of things that 
 the annual unceasing accumulation of ice and snow at 
 the South Pole might, in the course of time, so affect 
 the earth's centre of gravity, as to produce a change in its 
 axis, with all its consequences. But nature, ever fertile 
 in her resources, in compensation has caused the vast 
 
 ! ; 
 
 i 
 
 ' : 
 
 9 
 
A Barrier Berg five miles in ieiipi/i. 
 
 353 
 
 barrier of ice, which everywhere ^irts the whole hue of 
 coast, to separate and float off in the form of giant bergs, 
 often miles in length. One of these barrier bergs we 
 fell in with, of which I made a sketch, measured no less 
 than five miles from one extremity to the other: the 
 bergs frequently attain 200 feet and upwards in height 
 above the sea. The vast body of water set in motion in 
 the Southern Ocean by heavy gales beating on the face 
 of the barrier, fractures and drifts away those islands of 
 ice in countless numbers, to be, after long drifting about, 
 dissolved in the warmer climes of lower latitudes, and 
 added to the wide waste of waters. 
 
 The sun being nearer the earth when over the southern 
 hemisphere, the earth's velocity is increased, and the 
 consequence is the sun is a week less time in this 
 hemisphere than it is in the northern ; thus making the 
 South Polar winter longer by a week than the North 
 Folar one. A constant depression of the barometer pre- 
 vails in the Antarctic seas to the amount of nearly an inch. 
 
 The currents ran very strong amongst the rocks and 
 islands forming Louis Philippe Land, as they did amongst 
 the drift ice in the narrow channel separating Possession 
 L.land from the mainland of Victoria. Now the currents 
 of the ocean are mainly under the influence of the winds ; 
 about three-quarters of the globe is covered by the ocean. 
 The equatorial current has a generally westerly course 
 round the globe, subject to deflections as it crosses the 
 Atlantic Ocean towards the South American continent, 
 where it divides, one portion going south, the other into 
 the Gulf of Mexico, coming out as the gulf-stream, the 
 temperature, breadth, and extent of which I have given 
 in another portion of this work. This warm surface- 
 current of the ocean sets from the equatorial regions 
 towards the poles, conveying heat from the tropics to 
 the temperate and frigid zones, laving the shores of 
 both Spitsbergen and Greenland. Counter cold under- 
 
 VOL. I. -'^ ^ 
 
 h 
 
 ! 
 
;>54 
 
 ^ 'oviij^cs of Discovery. 
 
 ■ ■ ^ 
 
 \\ 
 
 \\\. 
 
 W 
 
 I 
 
 \ \ 
 
 \xf:, . I 
 
 '!^ ;: 
 
 currents set froiii the poles to the equator, keepinij the 
 bottom of the ocean httle above the freezing-point. 
 
 Whilst on the subject of curn-nts, I may here observe 
 that we crossed the circle of uniform temperature of the 
 ocean at six different points during our voyage, in a mean 
 latitudi' of 56" 14' S. ; this parallel of latitude forming 
 a belt of a mt'an temperature throughout its depth of 
 39°, whether the ti'uiperature at the surface be 78' or 30', 
 all round the world. 
 
 A remarkable fact associated with the ocean tem- 
 piTature, is that forms of animal life; belonging to the 
 Arctic seas have been dredgi'd up from the Antarctic 
 Ocean at depths of 2000 fathoms, and may have passed 
 from pole to pole through the tropics, without having 
 been subjected to a greater variation of temperature than 
 some five degrees or so. 
 
 The greatest depth of soundings we obtained during 
 the voyage was on the 3rd of June, 1843, in lat. 15° 3' S., 
 and long. 23'^ 14' W., getting no bott(Mn with 4600 
 fathoms of line (27,000 feet) run out. 
 
 The trade-w'nds are caused by the rotation of the 
 earth on its axis, which with the great altitude of the 
 sun keeping up a higher temperature at the belt of the 
 tropics than either north or south of the equator, is the 
 cause also of the permanent north-easterly and south- 
 easterly winds. 
 
 The greatest height attained by waves in the Atlantic 
 Ocean, according to Scoresby, would appear to be soint' 
 forty-three feet ; whilst in the North Sea the highest 
 probably fall short of twenty feet. The surface of the 
 ocean at the equator is said to be four feet higher than 
 at the poles — some i 2,000 miles apart. 
 
 The great comet of 1843 was a remarkable incident in 
 this voyage. Its first appearance was as a long ray of 
 light some 50° degrees in length, which we at first mis- 
 took for a ray of the Aurora Australis, the nucleus not 
 
Hlli,' the 
 lit. 
 
 observe 
 le of tliL" 
 
 .'I mean 
 
 formiiiir 
 [Icpth of 
 
 or so\ 
 
 an tcni- 
 ij to the 
 Vntarctic 
 t passed 
 : havinj^f 
 ure than 
 
 d during 
 
 itii 4600 
 
 n of the 
 le of the 
 It of the 
 or, is the 
 id south- 
 Atlantic 
 be some 
 ,' highest 
 e of the 
 jher than 
 
 cident in 
 ng ray of 
 irst mis- 
 :leus not 
 
 V'/w Great Conn/ of iSS:;. 
 
 355 
 
 being visible above the horizon at the time. It has the 
 smallest perihelion distance of all known comets, having 
 all but grazed the sun, moving with a velocity of 366 
 miles per second, at its nearest approach ; the centre of 
 the comet being only 80,000 miles distant from the 
 centre of the sun; and from surface to surface only some 
 32,000 miles S(;parated the two bodies from each other. 
 The tail has been said to extend to 150,000,000 of miles 
 in length, and the breadth 3,300,000 miles. In fact it 
 has been inferred that the tail extended beyond the 
 distance at which the earth revolves round the sun, itself 
 of such vast magnitude that it would admit the earth, 
 moon's orbit, and all within its disc. 
 
 Yet these distances, vast as they appear, sink into in- 
 significance when we reflect that Sir John llerschel, with 
 his twenty-foot reflector, enumerates no li;ss a number 
 than 20,374,000 stars visible through his telescope, 
 and of this entire number of stars thus seen, only about 
 5000 arc visible to the naked eye throughout the heavens. 
 
 At such inconceivable distances in the depths of space 
 are the stars separated from us, that only a few, very 
 few, indeed, have had their distances measured (such as 
 61 Cygni and a Centauri — both double stars) with any 
 reliable degree of accuracy. The former, a small star 
 of the sixth magnitude, had been observed to be affected 
 by a proper motion, or progressive regular displacement 
 of 5" per annum, among the surrounding stars ; from which 
 circumstance astronomers were under the impression that 
 it was nearer to our system, and on being submitted 
 to observation it gave the parallax of 0*348 by Bessel. 
 The distance of the two stars of 61 Cygni subtends 
 an angle, rendering it probable that the orbit is nearly 
 circular, with a period of 500 years ; so that these two 
 stars revolve round each other in an orbit far exceeding 
 the dimensions of Neptune's round our sun. This star, 
 6i Cygni, was the first measured star in the heavens 
 
 A a 2 
 
 
356 
 
 J 'ovifi^i's of Discovery 
 
 •I 
 
 !',r 
 
 
 
 affording a parallax. Hut tlu; latter-named star, Alpha 
 Ceiitaiiri, is the nearest of all the stars in the heavens to 
 our system. It is a very brij^ht star of the first ma<j;nitu(lt; 
 in the constellation of the Centaur, next to Sirius and 
 Canopus in its brilliancy, having a proper motion of nearly 
 4" per annum, and the parallax of o'cji^. The li^ht of 
 Sirius is, however, four times that of a Centauri, but its 
 parallax only o"23o. It moves through space at the; rate 
 of fourteen miles a second, a Centauri thirteen miles 
 a second, and 61 Cy^ni no less than forty miles a 
 second. X^'.iJ^a, in the constt'llation of the Lyre, has the 
 same velocity as a Centauri, thirteen miles a second. 
 The planets, to keep them in their orbits, move throui^h 
 space. Mercury at the rate of twenty-eight miles, and 
 Neptune at only about four miles a second. 
 
 In celestial measurements, the diameter of the earth 
 (8000 miles) has been used as a base-line in determin- 
 ing the distance of the moon to be 240,000 miles from 
 the earth, or about sixty radii of our globe, taking its 
 radius as the unit of measurement; thi' distance of the 
 sun being obtained through the transits of Venus over 
 its disc. But the distances of the stars are so great 
 that another base-line has to be sought for, in the distance 
 ' of the ear'h from the sun in fact, to dt.-termine how 
 manytinii : the sun's distance made up the distance of 
 any particular star, the displacement of that star giving 
 the parallax ; the radius of the earth's orbit taken as 
 the unit. The results obtained place the neares' 
 to us, in round numbers, some 200,000 timi -, ti 
 distance fram the earth, or 200,000 time ... ot 
 
 90,000,000 miles. 
 
 The spectroscope has of late unfolded lo us much 
 interesting information with reference to the pnysical 
 constitution of the stars, and comets too, as well as their 
 movements in space. In fact, it has opened out a wide 
 field of research in th*.' future. Spectrum analysis brings 
 
Different Types of Stars or Suns, 
 
 357 
 
 out those rainbow-tinted streaks, crossed by dark lines, 
 where tints are missing from absorptive actif)n in the 
 vapourous <ilin()S|)herc of the star of l)ri<^ht lines, sodium, 
 ealcium, and so forth. The dark absor|)live lines of 
 hydrogen vary in breadth and darkness, by some sup- 
 posed to be eharacterisli(! of a hii^di temperature in the 
 star or sun in proportion to their depth and blackness. 
 
 \'ega and Sirius are types of the bluish-white stars ; 
 Capella and Aldebaran of the yellowish-white, like our 
 sun ; and Arcturus of the orange-yellow, or third type. 
 Inferences have been drawn from these types as to the 
 relative ages of each : the first type with Sirius, the 
 younger ; the third with Arcturus, the oldest. 
 
 Whilst on the subject of the heavens I cannot resist 
 the temptation to allude to the wonderful discovery of 
 the planet Neptune, by Leverrier and Adams, in the 
 year 1846, through the perturbations of Uranus, the most 
 distant planet of our system, having a mean distance 
 from the sun of no less than 2,862,000,000 miles, being 
 165 years in accomplishing its rcvolutiim. It is invisible 
 to the naked eye, appearing through the telescope as a 
 star of the eighth magnitude, having a velocity of above 
 12,000 miles an hour ; of far greater magnitude than the 
 earth, being the third in .size of the planets; and what 
 is most remarkable, its satellite, and those of Uranus, 
 it has been stated, have a retrograde movement, and 
 not from west to east as other satellites and planets. 
 The newly-discovered moons of Mars, Deimas and 
 Phobos, move around their planet from west to east, as 
 our own moon does round the earth. The Uranian year 
 is eighty-ftmr of ours. Olbers supposed that the nume- 
 rous asteroids which have been discovered were frag- 
 ments of a large planet. 
 
 In my remarks upon the magnificent comet of 1843 
 I omitted stating that its orbit would appear to be 
 Identified with that of several others observed in the 
 
 IM 
 
 11 
 
 I.* 
 
 li 
 
 
 t 
 
35^ 
 
 I 'ojdors of Discovery 
 
 \\\ !!1* 
 
 V >i 
 
 M 
 
 i-'; '!> 
 
 past. If so its periods of return would be rendered un- 
 certain, and considered shorter than at first. A period 
 of twenty-one years, and even much less than that, has 
 been assigned to it. Only one other comet in the pre- 
 sent century exceeded this in brilliancy and beauty, 
 that was the great comet of the year 1811, the head 
 of which was 112,000 miles in diameter, and that of 
 the bright nucleus some 400 miles. The tail extended 
 over a space of 1 i 2,000,000 miles. Its period of revo- 
 lution occupied no less than 3000 years. This comet was 
 never less than 100,000,000 miles from us or the sun. 
 I can well remember its brilliant aspect lighting up the 
 northern heavens, being at the time eleven years of age, 
 and that year more deeply impressed on my memory as 
 an eventful one, by the loss of my father on the Christ- 
 mas Eve, in the sad shipwreck of H.M.S. Defence, off 
 the coast of Jutland. 
 
 Halley's comet, occupying seventy-six years in its 
 revolution, extends beyond the orbit of Neptune, which 
 planet is thirty times the distance of the earth from the 
 sun, and the earth's orbit has a diameter of 24,000 
 diameters of the earth itself ; and although the sun has a 
 diameter of 882,000 miles, yet were it removed to the 
 distance of the nearest fixed star, our sun would appear 
 only as a star of the second magnitude, shining like 
 the Pole Star, or the stars in the constellation of the 
 Great Bear. It is situated in the angle formed where 
 the two branches of the Milky Way separate, moving 
 through space at the rate of four miles a second, whilst 
 that highly coloured star Arcturus rushes through space 
 at the wonderful speed of fifty-four miles in the same 
 space of time. The Pole Star moves at the rate of 
 one anrl a half miles in a second only, the earth's velocity 
 being nineteen miles a second. The companion of Sirius, 
 a minute star, is forty-seven times the distance of the 
 sun from the earth. The small star, Alcor, in the tail of 
 
 i. 
 
 iiH I 
 
 I 
 
1 ; 
 
 A^HUibcr of Stars in the Heavens. 
 
 359 
 
 the Great Bear, and so named by the Arabs, is increasing 
 in brightness, and the circuhir contour of the constella- 
 tion of Hercules is said to be' enlarging from year to 
 year. In the constellation of Taurus the six stars are 
 double ; the finest, Halcyone, is only of the third mag- 
 nitude. The sev^enth star of the Pleiades is said to 
 have disappeared at the capture of Troy. The Milky Way 
 is a conglomeration of stars, too faint to be separately 
 discerned. In the language of the North-American 
 Indians it is called the "road of the souls ;" and by the 
 Chinese, the " celestial river." Aristotle's notion of the 
 Milky Way was, that it resembled a large comet constantly 
 reproducing itself. 
 
 Our earth having a surface of some 200,000,000 square 
 miles, is indeed the merest point in a universe un- 
 folding to our view 1,000,000,000 stars or suns, as 
 seen through the largest telescopes, in every part 
 of the celestial sphere. If suddenly forced from its 
 orbit, it would in little more than two months fall 
 into the body of the sun. Our sun is supposed to 
 be in the first or glowing vaporous stage of planet life, 
 Jupiter in the second stage, and the earth in the third or 
 life stage, whilst the moon has reached the last or final 
 stage of decrepitude and death. Those meteor systems, 
 about 100 of which arc; encountered by our earth, have 
 been associated with the tails of comets : the Novem- 
 ber display calh-d the Leonides, and the August ones, 
 the Persides. 
 
 The great comet of 1 843 has been said to have been 
 associated with a train of meteors, and that its near 
 approach to the sun's corona has caused a retardation 
 of its velocity to such an extent as to hasten its return 
 long before the period it should become due ; and it may, 
 consequently, be looked for again before the conclusion 
 of the present century, when in passing round the sun 
 its perihelion distance will be lessened. 
 
56o 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVl. 
 
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 |pl!|t 
 
 Simon's Bay — Excursion to Cape Point — Stellcnboscli— St. Helena — 
 Ascend Ladder Hill — Fairyland. 
 
 I NOW resume the narrative of my travels. 
 
 Tuesday, April \th. — Fine day ; upon j^oing on deck 
 after breakfast, I saw Table Mountain and Cape Point. 
 Volumes of smoke were ascending; above Simon's Town, 
 from the burning of the bush on the hills beyond. We 
 had to work up False Bay, with strong breeze and 
 squally weather. 
 
 At 3.30 p.m., exchanged numbers with the flag-ship. 
 H.M.S. Winchester, and about four p.m. a pilot-boat 
 came alongside. A considerable surf was breaking on 
 the Bellows Rock, about two miles from Cape Point. At 
 6.30 p.m. a blue-light was burnt by the flag-ship, and at 
 7.15 another, which we answered ; and soon afterwards a 
 lieutenant from the Winchester board(?d us. At 7.30 p.m. 
 we came to an anchor in ten fathoms, outside of the 
 flag-ship ; and both captains waited on the admiral, the 
 Hon. Josceline Percy, this evening. 
 
 Jl'edncsdoy, ^th. — Fine, warm, enjoyable, sunny day. 
 Moored ship ; only a whaler in the bay. At three p.m. 
 I landed at the eastern point, beyond the fort. After 
 walking through the town, and to some stores, I returned 
 on board at 5.15 p.m. 
 
 Saturiiny, 8///. --The admiral and his family paid a visit 
 to both ships ; thi^y remained on board of us about an 
 hour. 
 
T 
 
 Fm'tiicy PecISs, seven miles from Simon^s Town. 361 
 
 Wednesday, \2tl1. — I started at 7.15 a.m. from the 
 fort, where I landed, on an excursion to Cape Point : the 
 day very warm, notwithstanding a strong breeze. I first 
 followed a track over the hills, overhanging the sea, and 
 through a gap in the mountains, to a Dutch farmer's 
 house in the valley beyond. On ascending a ridge 
 having a rocking-stone poised on it, I had a fine view of 
 Cape Point to the left, and Cape of Good Hope to the 
 right. Here I put up a covey of partridges, which 
 alighted again in a valley beyond, amongst underwood 
 and fragments of rock. I flushed them again and shot 
 one, which I bagged, after having had some difficulty 
 in finding it, as it flew above 100 yards before it fell. 
 Reached a spot midway between Cape Point and the 
 Cape at 12.45, returning by a different route to Simon's 
 Town at 5.30 p.m., walking thirty miles there and back. 
 Hills, granite base, sandstone summits. 
 
 Monday, \^th. — I landed at six a.m., and. mounting a 
 horse from Ke!tley's stables, started from Anderson's 
 Store by the turnpike-gate. The morning cloudy but 
 fine. I had no little difficulty in getting my steed to go 
 ahead, so accustomed was he, according to the hostler's 
 account, to go over the red hill with shooting parties ; 
 however this might be, I certainly never rode a more 
 stubborn, intractable beast. I rode round Eloges Bay, 
 Vish-hook Bay, and Kalk Bay, thence round Muizen- 
 berg, to Farmer Peck's, about seven miles from Simon's 
 Town. I alighted at 8.30 a.m., and just afterwards the 
 marine officer of the Wiiiehestcr rode up, and we break- 
 fasted together, l^irmer Peck has let his inn for 61. per 
 month, and now resides in the house between it and the 
 toll-bar. We called on him whilst our breakfast was 
 getting ready, and after this repast of eggs and toast, 
 tea and coffee, we remounted our horses at 9.30 a.m. 
 and rode together as far as Maskill's half-way house to 
 Cape Town, whither my fellow-traveller was bound. Here 
 
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 362 
 
 l^oyaocs of Discovery. 
 
 we baited our horses, and had a i^lass of ale ; this house, 
 which we reached in a hour, is fifteen miles from Simon's 
 Town. 
 
 At 1 1. 1 5 a.m. I started by the cart-track to the right, 
 just above the inn, and over the sandy flats, in the direc- 
 tion of Siellenbosch. This sandy tract winds irregularly 
 round to the left, but branches off, and is crossed by 
 many others, rendering the true course somewhat em- 
 barrassing to follow. About seven miles from the turn- 
 pike-road the sandhills commence, which I reached at 
 one p.m. The road here became heavy from the vast 
 quantities of loose white sand, forming rugged hillocks, 
 studded with bushes and rushes. I passed two or three 
 huts inhabited by the Dutch Africanders, who could not 
 speak a word of English. I had a cooling draught of 
 water from one of them, and from a stone bottle sus- 
 pended from the side of a wood cart, which I met on the 
 way further on, so thirsty did the heat of these sands 
 make me. Altogether I only passed a half-caste Afri- 
 cander or two, with a waggon, and the Cape Town 
 omnibus, with four horses, moving along at a good pace 
 over the sands. 
 
 About three p.m. Mr. Edwards, the Wesleyan mis- 
 sionary of Stellenbosch, overtook my old and stubborn 
 horse, I could hardly get beyond a drawling, walking 
 pace, and we rode on together into the town. On pass- 
 ing over a ridge, both False Bay and Simon's Town 
 came in view. I flushed a covey of partridges near the 
 roadside. Several white farmhouses, surrounded by their 
 vineyards, were ^.' ittered on either side of the road, 
 forming a pretty approach to the head of the valley in 
 which .Stellenbosch is situated. A few miles to the 
 right a long, narrow strip of wood, studded with white 
 farms, indicated the position of th(3 Eerste Rivier. 
 Passed through a small wooded dell by a rivulet just 
 before Stellenbosch made its appearance. 
 
 \ 
 
Meet Captain Cormack at Kinnibergs Hotel. 
 
 l^l 
 
 The entrance is strikingly pretty and picturesque. 
 The group of houses nestled at the head of the valley, 
 bounded on either side by lofty mountains. The imme- 
 diate approach is by a sort of lane, and then up the main 
 street, which runs straight through an avenue of magni- 
 ficent oaks, having a stream of water coursing down the 
 centre. At six p.m. I alighted at Kinniberg's boarding and 
 lodging-house, where my companion took leave of me, 
 giving me his name and address, with an invitation to 
 call on him. The day had cleared up very fine and 
 warm. I must have travelled over a distance of not 
 less than forty miles since my departure from Simon's 
 Town. The landlord of the inn I found a hearty old 
 veteran, who had formerly been a sergeant-major in the 
 Horse Artillery, which corps it appears he entered in the 
 year 1793, and has been a resident in this colony since 
 1806 ; and the old man still prides himself on his horse- 
 manship. I had a cold duck, a bottle of ale, and some 
 Cape wine for dinner. The landlord introduced me to a 
 Captain Cormack, of the Indian Army, who was staying 
 in the house. When I turned in at eleven p.m. I 
 heard the colonial girls in the house singing psalms. 
 
 Tuesday, \%th. — Breakfast in company with Captain 
 Cormack at eight a.m. Afterwards strolled through the 
 village, the streets of which form fine roads through 
 wide, shady avenues of lofty oaks, streams running 
 through them, crossing each other at right angles. 
 The houses are well built, and uniform in appearance, 
 the doors and shutters of a green or mahogany colour, 
 with the roofs thatched, a raised pavement some feet 
 above the road in front of them. 
 
 At 2.30 p.m. I called on Mr. Edwards. A young lady 
 about sixteen or seventeen met me at the door, and 
 ushered me into a room on the left, where she had been 
 employed drawing flowers. And here Mr. Edwards him- 
 self soon joined us, and followed by his wife, to whom he 
 
 
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 3^4 
 
 I 'oya^i^cs of Discovery. 
 
 introduced me. Some willows in front of his residence 
 give it a pretty, rural aspect. On my return to the inn at 
 3.15 p.m., Captain Cormack, with two friends of his, and 
 myself, mounted horses, and accompanied by two dogs. 
 Quail and Grouse, rode up the valley above the village 
 to the foot of the hills, partridge shooting ; but returned 
 unsuccessful to our inn, where we dined on duck and 
 green peas. 
 
 Stellenbosch has the air of a retreat of peaceful seclu- 
 sion, nestled in the lap of the mountains, amid venerable 
 and picturesque oaks. I noticed several pretty girls 
 tastefully dressed, stealing hasty glances at the passing 
 strangers, from corners of doors and windows. The un- 
 expected sight of strangers evidently occasioned a break 
 in their monotonous surroundings. It is situated about 
 twenty-five miles from Cape Town, and takes its name 
 from a former governor, Simon Van der Stell, in 168 1. 
 It contains about 250 houses, and 2162 inhabitants. 
 
 Wednesday, \(^th. — Rose at six a.m. After a cup of 
 coffee I started on my return at seven a.m. Captain 
 Cormack and his friends accompanied me as far as the 
 Erste Rivier, a distance of seven or eight miles, where I 
 took my leave of them, near some white farms, and struck 
 off along a track over a ridge and across the flats. Saw 
 two herons rise from a paddock, and flushed a covey of 
 partridges. Alighted from my horse, and after tying 
 him, went in search of them, without success, losing an 
 hour or two. On remounting, I had an opportunity of 
 seeing the celebrated secretary-bird of the Cape, striding 
 along, on his long, slender legs, amongst the bushes, 
 about half a mile ahead of me, raising his wings as if 
 in preparation for flight ; and fly he did before I could 
 get within shot of him, but alighted again on a rising 
 ground. I fired at him as he again rose ; it was a 
 very long shot, but I have no doabt that I should ulti- 
 mately have secured him had I had a more tractable 
 
sidcnce 
 M inn at 
 
 [is, and 
 
 dogs, 
 
 I village 
 
 ^turned 
 
 and 
 
 Saw 
 3vey of 
 - tying 
 
 At Anchor ojf James Town, St. Helena. 365 
 
 horse, or been entirely on foot. About sunset I gained 
 tlie turnpike-road, and passed several of the bullock- 
 waggons drawn by ten or twelve pairs of oxen. In passing 
 round Muizenberg the surf rolled on the rocky beach in 
 brilliant, luminous waves. The night starlight. I reached 
 Simon's Town at 10.30 p.m. Slept at Green's " British 
 Hotel." 
 
 Thursday, loth. — Having breakfasted at the inn, and 
 called at the hospital to see how the gunner of the 
 Terror was getting on there, under Shea, the surgeon, 
 whom I saw, I called at Anderson's Store, and pur- 
 chased an ostrich's egg, returning on board in the after- 
 noon. At six p.m. I dined on board H.M.S. Winchester 
 with the wardroom officers, and left at nine p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, 16th. — Went on board the Samarang, 
 arrived yesterday ; and on board the Acorn, of sixteen 
 guns, to see her commander, John Adams, who had 
 formerly been an old messmate of mine. Called after- 
 wards on the surgeon of the flagship and his wife, at 
 their residence on shore. 
 
 Sunday, ^oth. — Fine day. We sailed at nine a.m. 
 With the ship's head now towards England, we may 
 fairly consider ourselves on the passage home, albeit, by 
 a somewhat circuitous route. 
 
 Saturday, Afay 13M. — At eight a.m. we anchored off 
 James Town, St. Melena, after a fortnight's passage 
 from the Cape, during which nothing worth recording 
 occurred, and want of space, as my journal draws near 
 its close, will not permit me giving further details. 
 
 Monday, 15///.- Landed for the first time this fore- 
 noon ; met my genial old messmate, Gulliver, on horse- 
 back. I walked out to his pretty cottage, Brookhill, 
 about four miles from James Town, and divided from the 
 Tomb Valley by a ridge, embosomed in an amphitheatre 
 of hills. Gulliver returned home about an hour after my 
 arrival, and I dined and slept there. On the following 
 
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 I 
 
 111' 
 
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 I'oycTjjcs of Discovery 
 
 h 
 
 m I 
 
 day, TLK'sday, i6lh, showery weatlirr prevented our 
 excursion to Fairyland, and at 4.20 p.m. I left for the 
 ship. 
 
 JJ\'(hn'S(/(iv, 1 7///. 1 paid a visit to my friends the 
 Gideons at Fairyland, and dined with the family. In 
 my journey out at noon 1 ascended Ladder Mill in nine 
 minutes without once stopping to rest. 
 
 Saiiirdov, May 20///. — At 1,45 p.m. we i^ot under 
 weii^h, with the wind at east ; a rainbow arched St. 
 James's X'alley. At noon to-day I received some speci- 
 mens of silk, of the national colours of France, taken 
 from the llai^ waved over Napoleon's tomb, at the time 
 of the removal of his remains fntm this island to Paris, 
 and sent me as a mementt) from my fair friends at 
 F'airyland, by whom the flag was made. 
 
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 [tl our 
 for the 
 
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 under 
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 speci- 
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 I^iris, 
 :nds at 
 
 CHAPTI'LR XXXVII. 
 
 Ascension Island — Up the (Ircen Mountain- Rio do Janeiro— Corvo^ 
 Scilly Islands — Woolwich — The expedition i)aid otif. 
 
 Thin'sday, 25///. — After breakfast, upon going on deck, 
 I saw the island of Ascension for the first time ; it was 
 right ahead, and distant about a degree. Appearing 
 high and capped with clouds ; I took a sketch of it on 
 nearing the highest part of the land. A flock of about 
 a score of frigate pelicans flew off to the ship, and when 
 hovering over the main-truck, I shot two, but had the 
 vexation to lose both by their falling overboard, which 
 was the more to be regretted as I have not hitherto 
 been able to obtain a single specimen for the Govern- 
 ment ornithological collection, of the P. Fregata, or 
 man-of-war bird. 
 
 We ran round a low point to North-west Bay, at the 
 base of the Cross Hill, on which is a signal-station, and 
 anchored at three p.m. No ships there. The health- 
 officer, a surgeon in the navy, boarded us. 
 
 Saturday, 27///. — Fine weather. Took a sketch of 
 the island, which is of sub-aerial formation ; and at 1 1.30 
 a.m. I landed. Visited the hospital with the surgeon, 
 and also the turtle ponds, two in number, containing 
 300 to 400 turtle — the largest weighing about 400 
 pounds. Saw several of them floating with their backs 
 above the surface ; returned on board between one and, 
 two p.m., and sent a supply of medicines on shore for 
 the use of the hospital. 
 
 'I, 
 
 l>^ 
 
A ' 
 
 .*]'■ 
 
 
 368 
 
 VoyaQi's of Discovery, 
 
 j>: y. 
 
 ! I 
 
 lil ■ I 
 
 i' 'I il'j. 
 
 Sunday, 28///. — After divisions <incl clivinc service, I 
 went on shore; called on the siirifeon of the hosj)ital, and 
 at eleven a.m. started on an excursion up the Green Moun- 
 tain : weather fine. Struck off across the scoria strewed 
 flat, round to the right of Cross Hill, 870 feet in heij^ht, 
 by a cart-road which led across a plain between it and 
 the base of Green Mountain. Passed the two-mile stone 
 on the right, and afterwards the tank, over rugged ledges 
 of scoria to the base of the mountain, some four miles. 
 The rocks consisting of scoriaceous lavas, studded here 
 and there with straggling bushes of the castor-oil plant, 
 presenting an excessively wild and barren aspect on this 
 cindery island. Saw a goat, and perhaps 100 head of 
 cattle. The only species of bird I met with was the wide- 
 awake or egg-bird, a black-backed tern {Sterna fiilii^i- 
 nosa), flying overhead, uttering a mewing sort of kitten-like 
 cry. These birds breed in such numbers on one part of the 
 island, as to gain for it thi- name of " Wide awake Fair." 
 I saw two mountain butterflies, having a white spot on a 
 dark-coloured wing, numbers of crickets, and a few cock- 
 roaches. I ascended direct for the mountain-house up a 
 zigzag road. The first higher form of vegetation I met 
 with, was the aloe, now in seed. I passed the detachment 
 barracks, and along a very pretty evergreen fence to 
 the officers' quarters, a neat building. Here I partook 
 of some biscuit and cheese and a glass of ale with the 
 officers. 
 
 This spot, after ascending from the scorched-up, cin- 
 dery soil below, appeared to break upon one all at once, 
 like an oasis in the desert. Here is an excellent garden, 
 ornamented with flowers of various hues, the house itself 
 shaded in trees and shrubs. Amongst them the banana 
 grew vigorously, a few pine-apples struggled for existence, 
 and I noticed beds of carrots and leeks. Merely the w'ater 
 falling as it does, drop by drop, from the rocks into a 
 reservoir, I was told, proved sufficient to supply the wants 
 
Ai Anchor at Ascension. 
 
 569 
 
 of the mountain-party. At the cxtrt niity of the garden is 
 a tunnel eut through the hill, several hundred yards in 
 extent. The view from this mountain-house is very fine, 
 the smaller hills rising like cones from the surface of the 
 plain-like expanse below: some of a reddish-brown colour, 
 others grey ; and the mountain itself appears of a light- 
 green tint : hence its name. The highest peak, at the 
 mountain-house, is 2818 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 There are said to be guinea-fowl, but I did not see 
 any. I arrived at the house at 12.45, '^"^ li-'ft it at 
 1.30 p.m. by a somewhat different route for change. 
 The peak soon afterwards became enveloped in mist, and 
 a light shower or two fell. Reached George Town at 
 3.30 p.m., and dined with the surgeon, Harvey Morris, 
 my brolher-oflficer, in charge of the medical establish- 
 ment here. We had turtle soup, and fin, pork, both 
 boiled and roast (cold) ; kumeras and callaboas, with 
 damson tart, ale, port, sherry, and claret. Walked round 
 the hospital, and after tea I returned on board at eight 
 p.m. Mrs. Morris is a daughter of the celebrated Dr. 
 Clutterbuck, of London. 
 
 Monday^ 29///. — At 8.50 a.m. we sailed from Ascen- 
 sion. 
 
 Saturday, June yd. — Nearly a calm. Made deep- 
 sea soundings, and it took somewhat more than two hours 
 to run 4600 fathoms off the reel without reaching bottom, 
 expending 600 fathoms one-inch and 4010 fathoms three- 
 quarter-inch rope, with three cwt. of iron ballast. Current 
 W. IS. 
 
 Wednesday, ']th. — Upon going on deck at nine a.m. I 
 saw the island of Trinidad very distinctly ahead, bearing 
 S.S.W. Lat. at noon 20" 7', long. 2(f 12', dip 11° 22', 
 var. 9° 20'. Sketched the land, and at 4.30 p.m. we 
 bore up W.S.W. abreast of the Nine-pin Rock, about a 
 league distant. Saw the beach where we landed three 
 and a half years ago. Our remaining turtle was killed 
 
 VOL. I. H b 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 : ;( 
 
 •.( 
 
 I 
 
o/ 
 
 o 
 
 / 'ojurj^i's of /discovery. 
 
 Mjlj 
 
 .:' * 
 
 'SI 
 
 this L'vcniii^, .'ind I preserved the shell and head, as it 
 was a very larijc specimen, wei^hini; al least four owl. 
 
 Fiidiiy, \()tli. — This inorniiii,' saw the revolving' li^ht 
 on Cape Frio, on the h-e-beani. On the following; even- 
 ing wc tacked within three or fonr leaj^ues of the 
 Sugar-loaf, and stood off the land for the night. Saw 
 the peak of the Corcovada, with black squalls passing 
 over the land, and a dense nimbus suspended over the 
 mountain-tops. After dark s.iw Raza light. 
 
 Stindny, \S//i. — Hi'ating up all day for Kio de Janeiro 
 Harbour, and anchored at 4.40 p.m. in five fathoms. 
 
 This fine capacious harbour derived its name from the 
 discoverer, De Sousa, having discovered it on the first day 
 of January, 1531. I'he aborigines called the harbour 
 Netherohy, or " Hidden WatiT," and the Sugar-loaf Moun- 
 tain, Pao d'Azucer, which attains the height of 1000 feet ; 
 the Corcovada Mountain, 2000 feet, and the Organ 
 Mountains, 3200 feet. 
 
 Monday, {gill. — At eleven a.ni. I landed foi a stroll 
 round the town. Called at Tross's, and lunched at 
 " Pharoux's Motel." \'isited the fair in the campa, and 
 the cathedral, returning on board at six p.m. 
 
 Tuesday, 2oili. — Crossed over to the Braganza side in 
 the steamer. Walked as far as the old fort and back 
 again, and missed the packet twice. Saw numbers ^){ 
 oranges growing in the gardens. Got back to Rio at 
 3.30 p.m. 
 
 W'cdiiesdav, 21. si. — Landed again at eleven a.m. Pine 
 day. Walked over the hill to the passeo for about a 
 mile, returning through the new market-place. Had a 
 lunch of prawns and stout at Pharoux's, a capital large 
 new hotel, at the corner of the Largo de Paro. Went 
 to Madame Finot's, in the Rua d'Ovidor, and purchased 
 a box of feather-flowers and one of insects. She 
 had about thirty young creole girls seated at the 
 farther end of the shop, making flower-wreaths with 
 
 M'i 
 
T 
 
 Sail from Rio yanciro. 
 
 371 
 
 fi'.'illuTS ; and an interesting-looking youni^ damsel, 
 whom she called Catherine, attended as interpreter, 
 apparently of English extraction. I hoii^ht also a grey 
 and a green parrot at different shops adjacent. 
 
 Sunday, 2^1 li. — We sailed at 8.15 a.m. Rio is much 
 improved in appearance since I was last there in 1832. 
 A new landing-place, hotel, and market-place. The 
 ISotanical Garden at lioto-Fogo is seven or eight mil(,'S 
 from Rio. We had a remarkable line week of weather 
 during our stay, and being St. John's week, the city was 
 very lively with ringing of bells and fireworks and 
 rockets at night. 
 
 Monday, July \otli. — We have had the trade-winds 
 for thi! last few days, and crossed the line this evening 
 in about the twenty-sixth degree of longitude. 
 
 Friday, \t\th. — This afternoon entered the variables 
 with the wind from S.W. ; lat. 6° 39', long. 24° 23'. 
 
 Tuesday, \8f/i. — We entered the north-east trades, 
 
 and Saturday, 22nd, got the temperature of the deep sea 
 
 at 1850 fathoms, the greatest depth yet, for temperature. 
 
 Monday, 316/. — Fine day. Crossed the tropic this 
 
 fcrenoon. 
 
 Monday, Augnst "jfli. — Employed in arranging and 
 
 packing the Government collection of birds on deck; and 
 
 sent into the cabin, in complianci; with the customary 
 
 orders, all my diaries and sketches made during the 
 
 voyage. 
 
 Wednesday, gth. — Two dolphins caught. Had some 
 for dinner, and found it very good eating. Employed 
 arranging and packing the Government geological 
 collections. 
 
 Wednesday, \6tJi. — The calms and light, variable airs 
 for some days past have prevented us making the Azores, 
 and being now in about the latitude of them, there is no 
 chance of our touching at any of them as was intended. 
 This evening for the first time saw the chart of Victoria 
 
 B b 2 
 
 •I '■■w 
 
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 Z1^ 
 
 Voya^^cs of Discovery, 
 
 !l: 
 
 !| 
 
 ^M^'! 
 
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 Land, with the names of the olTicers of the expedition 
 attached to it. 
 
 Snturday, \gfh. — Flores and Corvo in sii^ht. At 
 eleven a.m. passed between them. They are seven or 
 eight leagues apart. We hove-to off Corvo, about a 
 league from the land, for the island boats to bring us 
 supplies; — two goats, th.rty-two fowls, eggs, milk, 
 ch(\'se, potatoes, water-melons, onions, and heads ol 
 Indian corn. I purchased four fancy baskets, made of 
 red and white cane, for the small sum of two shillings 
 and ninepence; fowls one shilling each, eggs one shilling 
 per dozen. 
 
 Corvo rises to about from 1200 to 1400 feet above the 
 sea, presenting a mottled, dull, brownish-green aspect, the 
 surface reticulated with the enclosures of maize and other 
 produce. The cliffs appeared much rent in places by 
 subterranean movements. The village consisted of some 
 200 sombre-looking, lava-built huts, having tiled roofs. 
 and thickly grouped together; having a white-coloured 
 church, and belfry in the centre. At 1.30 p.m., on the 
 Terror coming up, we made sail with a fresh breeze for 
 Englaiid, nearly 1300 miles off. 
 
 ll'ciliirsday, S'^ffi. — Between seven and eight a.m. we 
 were boarded by a Scilly boat. St. Agnes lighthouse 
 was seen from the deck this forenoon. At three p.m. we 
 sounded in sixty-seven fathoms. In clear weather this 
 light may be seen eighteen miles off. 
 
 Saturday. September itid. — Very fine day, but with 
 light, contrary airs. At nine a.m., upon going on deck, 
 I saw the land of old Kngland again, after some four 
 years' absence, extending along the weather, or port- 
 beam : we were off the Bolt-tail coast of Devon, distant 
 some four or five leagues. At the least a score of 
 vessels in sight. After dinner a Cowes pilot-boat 
 came alongside. Saw the Start light on the port- 
 quarter. 
 
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 Arrival at IVoohvich. 
 
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 edition 
 
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 At 
 
 ven 
 
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 us 
 
 Monday, \th. — At nine a.m. off Bexhill, with a fine 
 view of Beechey Head, St. Leonard's, Hastings, &c. 
 A lovely day ; the sea smooth as a lake, and studded 
 over with countless vessels ; whilst the line of coast, dis- 
 playing the rich, golden-yellow fields of corn, some in 
 sheaf, some still standing, altogether gave animation to 
 the scene. Saw the Dungeness, and both the Foreland 
 lights, in the evening. 
 
 At 1 1 . 1 5 p.m. we anchored in fifteen and a half fathoms 
 off Hythe. Weighed again on the following morning, 
 Tuesday, the 5th, and stood in for Folkestone, where 
 Captain Ross landed at seven a.m., and proceeded by 
 train to town. At 1.30 p.tn. anchored off Walmer 
 Castle, for the tide, and at 6.40 p.m. weighed again, and 
 dropped anchor again in the first watch. But a breeze 
 springing up, again weighed; and came to an anchor 
 once more off the flat of the North Foreland. At 4.40 
 worked through the Queen's Channel, and at 11.30 a.m. 
 anchored in Pan-sand Hole. Saw the Reculvers, and 
 my old station-house, Epple Bay, through the haze over 
 the land. 
 
 To-day my South American green parrot, an intelli- 
 gent, lively creature, followed me into t e main-top, and 
 down again by one of the ropes. 
 
 Thursday, "jtli, 6.20 a.m. — We sailed up the Queen's 
 Channel, and at one p.m. anchored off the Great Nore, 
 and received orders to pay off at Woolwich. At 
 2.20 p.m. we got once more under weigh, and finally let 
 no our anchor there. 
 
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 oya Remarkable azure blue-lintcd berg seen on December 31st, 1842. 
 
 ifftiik. 
 
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 Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Liih. 
 
 \ in 1843. 
 
 A capsiited l>erg in Lat. 64" 12', long. 56° 10', seen in 184J. 
 
 (•LACK!) AT THK tND OF 
 AN MKC TIC VOVAOt \OL 1 
 

 R. McCormick, R.N., deJ. 
 
 First berg seen on first voyage south, in Lat. 63° 22', Long. 174°, distant i of a mile. 
 
 
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 Weatherworn berg, seen in second voyage south, in Lat. 65° 6', Long. 167° 39'. 
 
 Cottage berg in 1841. 
 
A PANORAMA OF A SELECTION OF BERGS, TO SHOW THE FANTASTIC FORMS ASSUMED BY MANY OF THE ANTAI 
 
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 First berg seen on second voyage south, distant I mile. 
 
 Tower-shaped berg, seen on thircj 
 
 
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 Gable berg in 1842. 
 
 Berg seen in 1843. 
 
 Singular berg seen in 1843 in La 
 beneath the Southci 
 
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 >UMED BY MANY OF THE ANTARTIC ICEBERGS. 
 
 
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 Tower-shaped berg, seen on third voyage south, in Lat. 6i° 23', Long. 52° 19'. 
 
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 Singular berg seen in 1843 in Lat. 67° 6', Long. 8° 35', 
 beneath the Southern Cross. 
 
 Large cavernous berg 200 feet high, i mile distant, s< 
 

 Remarkable azure blue-tinted berg seen on December 31st, 1842. 
 
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 Vincent Brooks, Day SSL Son, Lith. 
 
 et high, I mile distant, seen in 1843. 
 
 A capsized berg in Lat. •4" 12', Long. 56° in', seen in 1843. 
 
 PLACED AT THE END OF 
 ANTARtTtr VDYAOE VOL.1. 
 

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 PART II. 
 NARRATIVE 
 
 OF THE ATTEMPT TO REACH 
 
 TIIK 
 
 NORTH POLE 
 
 IN THE YEAR 1827 
 
 IIV 
 
 ADMIRAL SIR 
 
 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY, R.N., F.RS. 
 
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 Little Tabic Island, Spitzbcrgcn, tlic northernmost land. (See paj^c 396.) 
 
 PERSONAL NARRATIVE 
 
 
 ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE 
 
 IN THE YEAR 1827. 
 
 H 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Doparliire from the Nore— Arrival at Hammcrfest— Visit of the " Belle 
 of Lapland " and her party to the Hixla — Ptarinigan-shooting— 
 Magpies held sacred — Departure — Crow's-nest got up to fore- 
 topgallant mast-head— First ice seen— Fall in with whalers— Sight 
 Spitzbergen— Cloven Cliff- Fnter the pack in a gale— Red 
 Beach— The attemjjt to start in the boats from the pack — Verlegen 
 Hook — Highest latitude reached — Seven Islands. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 4di of April, 1827, at four a.m., we 
 weighed anchor from the Little Noi-e, the Cojuet steamer 
 taking us in tow. At six a.m. sent her to Sheerness with 
 thf ship's company's wives and families, and stood on our 
 course, returning the steamer's cheers. At noon, when 
 off Harwich, the steamer came up with us again, and took 
 us in tow. At si.\ p.m. she finally parted company with 
 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, NY. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
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 I 
 

378 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 us ofif Orfordness, with a hearty cheer, having discharged 
 our pilot on board of her. At seven p.m. saw Lowestoft 
 revolving light. Wind S.W., with cloudy weather and 
 light breezes. 
 
 Sunday, April Zth. — This forenoon Captain Parry 
 performed divine service on the lower deck, taking his 
 text from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, second 
 chapter, and thirteenth verse. He afterwards read the 
 articles of war on the quarter-deck. Wind W.S.W., and 
 fresh breezes, with a moonlight night. 
 
 Monday, ^th. — Struck topgallant masts, and close- 
 reefed the top-sails, going before a strong gale of wind 
 from the southward, with a heavy sea running, and dark, 
 cloudy weather. 
 
 Tuesday, loth. — Still blowing strong, with cloudy 
 weather, accompanied by sleet and snow at intervals. 
 The wind at noon N.W. Saw several fulmar petrel 
 {Procellaria glacialis) for the first time ; and on the 
 following day, Wednesday, the nth, two solan-geese 
 {Sula alba) ?nd a great number of fulmar petrel in the 
 wake of the ship. 
 
 Thursday, \2tl1. — Last night we crossed the Arctic 
 Circle ; and I saw a solitary duck. We killed our two 
 oxen this morning. 
 
 Friday, \ith. — Last evening all the officers assisted 
 in working the ship. To-day we lighted the hot-air 
 (Sylvestre's) stove for the first time since leaving England ; 
 kept it lighted for twenty-four hours to air the ship, when 
 the thermometer in the cabin rose to 50° Fahrenheit. 
 Weather cloudy and squally, with a fresh breeze from 
 the E.S.E. : a few fulmar petrel still following in the 
 wake of the ship, but not in such numbers as before we 
 entered within the Arctic Circle, 66° 32' N. latitude. 
 Between ten and eleven p.m. saw the Aurora Borealis for 
 the first time, shooting upwards from east to west, a 
 brilliant display of the most^ beautiful coruscations, 
 
 r 
 
a 
 
 Sig/il the Laud of Lapland. 
 
 379 
 
 changing appearance and position with the greatest 
 rapidity ; at times darting upwards in a beautiful arch to 
 the zenith, and finally dying away in faint coruscation. 
 The night was fine and clear; the heavens brightly 
 studded with stars, only slightly obscured now and then 
 by a few passing light, fleecy clouds. 
 
 Saturday, \^th. — Weather fine and clear, with light 
 south-easterly winds. The officers to form the travelling- 
 party have been living on their allowance of pemmican for 
 the last four days, to test its effects on them, as it is to form 
 their only diet of animal food whilst away in the boats. 
 The pennant and union jack, made of blue, red, and 
 white silk by Mrs. Parry, to be hoisted at the pole should 
 the expedition be so far successful, were unfolded to-day 
 on the quarter-deck. I had, when first nominated for the 
 Hecla, volunteered myself to form one of the Polar party, 
 but, unfortunately for me, Captain Parry had already 
 promised to Mr. Charles Beverley, who had been a 
 medical officer with him in a former expedition, that he 
 should accompany him, in order to give him a stronger 
 claim for reinstatement on the Navy List, from which his 
 name had been removed on his refusal to take up an 
 appointment to a ship when called upon to serve. 
 
 Sunday, \^th. — Captain Parry performed the morning 
 service. The weather extremely fine and clear, the sky 
 being of the most intense azure blue, and unobscured 
 by the smallest cloud ; the sea quite smooth, and of the 
 deepest, darkest blue ; with light airs from E.S.E. Only 
 three or four petrel following the ship to-day. 
 
 Monday, \ttli. — The travelling-party were mustered on 
 the quarter-deck to-day in their travelling-dresses, and 
 the nature of the undertaking and allowance of provisions 
 explained to them by Captain Parry. At one p.m. made 
 the land ; and at six p.m. I saw it from the deck bearing 
 S.E!. on the starboard bow. Weather extremely fine 
 and clear, with light breezes from E.S.E. 
 
 w 
 
I; I 
 
 380 
 
 Voyages of Discoveiy. 
 
 Titesday, lyth. — Running along the land, with a fresh 
 southerly breeze. The mountains appeared covered with 
 snow. In the evening we were becalmed, when about 
 ten miles from the land. Hoisted a jack at the fore-iop- 
 gallant mast-head, and fired two guns for a pilot. Saw 
 several ducks and gulls. 
 
 Wednesday, 1S//1. — Beating up the fiord for the town 
 of Hammerfest, with a moderate breeze from S.E. and 
 cloudy weather. In the afternoon a boat came alongside 
 with a pilot. Had the hot-air stove lighted again to-day 
 to air the ship. 
 
 Thursday, igth. — At three p.m. anchored off Hammer- 
 fest ; and a boat left the ship with Lieutenant Crozier and 
 one of the mates to bring some reindeer from Alten, 
 intended for dragging the Polar boats over the ice. 
 Letters were sent to Alten, to be forwarded from thence 
 to England. Cloudy weather, with snow and fresh 
 south-easterly breezes. 
 
 Monday, 2T^rd. — The ship was dressed in flags, and 
 a royal salute fired, in honour of the anniversary of the 
 birthday of his Majesty. The boat returned from Alten ; 
 and the travelling-party were sent on shore to try their 
 snow-shoes. 
 
 Friday y 2'jth. — Received eight reindeer on board. 
 
 Sunday, 29///. — At seven a.m., we got under weigh, but 
 light winds and calms prevented us from getting clear 
 of the land during the day. During our stay here we had 
 visits on board from some of the principal inhabitants 
 of this little out-of-the-way place, who were but just 
 emerging from their winter's hibernation. They are often 
 so blocked up with ice and snow, that during their long 
 inclement winter season they have to dig themselves out. 
 Their floors are strewed with rushes. I met most of the 
 little community on board of a large Russian ship, at a 
 party from the shore to which I had received an invita- 
 tion. One of the young ladies present, of about twenty 
 
Si 
 
 Hi 
 
 ^1 
 
 Visit of the " Beilc of Lapland " to the Ilccla. 38 1 
 
 years of age, was very pretty and pleasing in her manners, 
 and well deserved the title of the " Belle of Lapland." 
 She lived with her mother, the widow, I believe, of a 
 Russian merchant ; and when she came on board the 
 Hecla with her friends to see the ship, she placed herself 
 by the binnacle, and was very anxious to have our course 
 to the Pole pointed out to her on the compass ; but owing 
 to our not understanding each other's language, this was 
 no easy matter. She was much amused with the chair 
 constructed for lowering the ladies down the ship's side 
 into the boat alongside, and it fell to my lot to have the 
 honour of placing her in it when she left us. On the hills 
 flanking the town there are ptarmigan called " Keepers ;" 
 but I did not meet with any. The ascent of the steep 
 hillside of the mountain range, covered with snow and 
 ice, in pursuit of them, was of so very perilous a nature 
 that one of our party, a young merchant of the place, 
 who accompanied us as our guide, when about half- 
 way up the mountain slipped, and after sliding down to 
 within a few feet of a steep precipice, was only saved 
 from destruction by the accumulation of the snow at his 
 feet, and some rugged projection of the rock arresting his 
 downward course. I shot a magpie near the huts before 
 I was aware that the bird was held sacred here. I 
 presented it to Captain Parry for his collection. 
 
 Monday, 2,0th. — Land still in sight : the ship's company 
 have been employed for the last three or four days pick- 
 ing the moss brought on board for the reindeer's food, 
 for they will only eat one kind, a white species {Cenomyce 
 rangi/erina), and of this selected sort each reindeer will 
 consume about four pounds daily. The coast here is of 
 granite formation ; and we passed out of the fiord by 
 the island of Soroe, the gneiss rocks, of which it and the 
 adjacent islands are composed, had a cleavage inclining 
 to S.W. The latitude of Hammerfest is in abuut 
 70° 40' N. and longitude of 23° 45' E. ; the dip of the 
 
 M 
 
r 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 5S2 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 !t 
 
 magnetic needle 77*^ 12' N.; the variation being 10° 14' 
 westerly. 
 
 Tuesday, May \si. — We are at last out of sight of 
 land, with fresh northerly winds, cloudy weather, and 
 snow at intervals. Lemon-juice was served out to the 
 ship's company to-day for the first time since leaving 
 Bingland. Several fulmar petrel following in the wake of 
 the ship. 
 
 Friday, 4///. — Still northerly winds, with snow, and 
 squally weather. Pea-jackets were served out to-day 
 both to officers and men. For the last few days we 
 have been passing through water of a comparatively 
 warm temperature, the sea-water reaching 40° when the 
 temperature of the air was only 24" F"ahr., doubtless an 
 offset of the Gulf-stream, which, laving the shore of 
 Spitsbergen, tends much to moderate the degree of cold 
 of its climate. 
 
 Saturday ^th. — When in the latitude of 'j'^ 30' N., 
 and longitude of 7° 30' E., we fell in with the first ice in 
 detached fragments. The opaque white appearance it 
 presents gives to Arctic ice a striking resemblance to loaf- 
 sugar. Saw some kittiwakes {Lams iridaciylus), little 
 auk {A lea alle), and ducks, with a number of fulmar petrel ; 
 the latter bird, being so voracious, is very easily caught 
 with a hook and line towed astern. As soon as one of 
 these birds notices the bait floating on the water it 
 swims cautiously towards it, looking at it apparently with 
 something like suspicion ; but so soon as it observes its 
 companions approaching, rather than they should secure 
 it, it pounces at once upon the much-coveted morsel, 
 swallowing hook and all. I -caught two of them in this 
 way for the Government collection, but it is a cruel way 
 of obtaining specimens, and not to be resorted to when 
 they can be secured by shooting them. 
 
 Sunday, 6ih. — Captain Parry performed divine ser- 
 vice, and read the articles of war on the quarter-deck. 
 

 " CroiJ's-AU'st " got up to Masthead to-day. 383 
 
 To-day we had some Donkin's preserved vegetable soup 
 served out for dinner, and found it excellent. Passed 
 several pieces of floating ice, and an eider-duck alighted 
 close alongsitle of the ship. 
 
 Monday, 7///.-;- Fell in with large continuous streams 
 of ice to-day of every variety of fantastic form and shape, 
 tinted with the most beautiful azure blue near the surface 
 of the water, and crested by the purest opaque white, like 
 the top of a twelfth-cake. The helm required the greatest 
 care and attention in steering the ship through the narrow 
 lanes between the ice, pieces of which not infrequently 
 came in collision with the bows, occasioning a smart 
 shock. The crow's-nest was got up to the fore-top- 
 gallant mast-head to-day. This is a circular box 
 resembling a cask without the head, covered outside 
 with canvas, having a seat inside, with a telescope for 
 the use of the officer looking out for the lane of 
 water presenting the best chance of getting the ship 
 through. 
 
 Tuesday, %th. — Snow at intervals. Fell in with the ice 
 in much greater quantities to-day, extending ahead as far 
 as the eye could reach from the fore-top. In addition to 
 the fulmar petrel there were some ivory gulls {Lams 
 eburnais), and several seals en the ice. Had scnie of 
 Donkin's preserved meat and vegetables served out to- 
 day, and both good. 
 
 Wednesday, gth. — Fell in with two whalers this fore- 
 noon, passing close to one of them, and sent a boat on 
 board of her ; the other ship made fast to a piece of ice 
 at some distance from us, and sent one of her boats 
 alongside of us. They were both from Peterhead, and 
 neither of them had been able to get any further north 
 than where we found them. The ship made fast to the 
 piece of ice was the Active, The year before hst, she 
 having got aground in Davis's Strait, her crew deserted 
 her and returned home. But on going out again in the 
 
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 H 
 
 fl^ 
 
 it 
 
 384 
 
 Voyages of DiscoiTiy. 
 
 following summer they found her in the same state in 
 which they had left her, and brought her home. The 
 ice was so closely packed to-day that we were compelled 
 to make fast to a floe piece — a large flat piece of ice — by 
 means of an ice-anchor. Saw the first flock of snow- 
 buntings ; several little auk and ivory gulls were swim- 
 ming amongst the ice. Weather thick and cloudy, 
 snowing at intervals — as it has been since we left the 
 coast of Finmark — with northerly winds. The evening 
 cleared up fine, the sun shining brightly at ten p.m., 
 when three more whalers hove in sight. We had the 
 hot-air stove lighted this afternoon. 
 
 Thursday ^ \oth. — Cast ofl" from the piece of ice last 
 night. Had Sylvestre's stove lighted again to-day. A 
 drift of sm.dl, fine snow continuously blowing over the 
 surface of the ice. Eleven whalers in sight to-day, and 
 in the forenoon four ships and a brig passed close to us 
 in pursuit of a whale, whose appearance we had made 
 known to them by signal. Captain Parry hailed them as 
 they passed, and acquainted them with, the direction in 
 which it had been seen. However, after tacking about 
 in the numerous lanes of water amongst the ice for some 
 time, and the search proving fruitless, they returned. 
 Each ship had a garland suspended from the main-top- 
 gallant stay, which it is a custom amongst the whalers to 
 hoist on a certain day upon entering the Arctic Circle. 
 Each ship had also a crow's-nest at the main-topgallant 
 mast-head. Passed two or three narwhals, or .sea- 
 unicorns {Mcncdon monoccros), sporting on the surface of 
 the water, and saw several small flocks of dovekies (t/r/'a 
 grylle), and looms, or foolish guillemots {Una brnnnichii), 
 flying about the ice this evening. During the first watch 
 we •' sallied " ship ; this consists in both officers and men 
 running quickly from side to side of the ship, all starting 
 at the same time, so as to make the ship roll, and so 
 assist her in getting through the bay-ice. This fore- 
 
rirst Sights of Spitsbergen. 
 
 ;«5 
 
 noon a boat came alongside from one of the whale- 
 ships. 
 
 Friday, nth. — The land of Spitzbergen was seen 
 during the morning watch, but the weather has been so 
 thick and hazy throughout the day that it has not been seen 
 since. The thermometer having risen 1 2° since yesterday, 
 the thaw has melted the snow on the decks. Several 
 whalers have been seen during the day. Large Hocks of 
 little auk, dovekies, and looms, swimming in the lanes of 
 water between the ice, and sometimes they would dive 
 on the approach of the ship, at others take wing, 
 and alight again a short distance off, uttering shrill and 
 confused murmuring, chattering notes, a few fulmar 
 petrel following in the wake of the ship, as usual with 
 them. 
 
 Saturday, 1 2th. — Very thick and hazy, with sleet and 
 fine snow at intervals. Wind southerly, much obstructed 
 in our progress by the ice. Two of the whalers in com- 
 pany. Town* Us evening the breeze died away to a calm, 
 accompa'-ied by a thick fog. Saw innumerable flocks 
 of little auk during the first watch. The ship having 
 become nearly becalmed in a hole of water, Captain 
 Parry allowed me to take the dingy, and pull about 
 amongst the ice, to shoot some of them for the Govern- 
 ment collection. But the fog increasing spoilt the sport ; 
 and as I could scarcely see the ship a few yards off, with 
 the risk of a breeze suddenly springing up and losing 
 sight of her altogether, a musket was fired from the ship 
 as a signal for the boat's recall, just before midnight. I 
 shot two little auk at the first fire, two looms at the 
 second, and at the third shot a fulmar petrel. 
 
 Sunday, i^th. — This morning I saw the land of that 
 most interesting island, Spitzbergen, for the first time, 
 distant some seven or eight leagues, towering upwards 
 in high and sharply peaked mountains, as its name 
 implies. The angular symmetrical forms of these lofty 
 
 VOL. I. c c 
 
i 
 
 386 
 
 Ihyagcs of Discovery. 
 
 U ■ f 
 
 ,!t 
 
 snow-clad peaks gives a very picturesque aspect to the 
 wliole coast-line; in hit. 79° N. The two boats which we 
 have hitherto had on the quarter-deck were hoisted out 
 to tow the ship, and afterwards hoisted up again before 
 the gangways. Captain Parry performed divine service, 
 and we went to divisions. This forenoon I went up to 
 the crow's-nest to have a look at the land, we ha\ ing to- 
 day got up a second one above the other, at the fore-top- 
 gallant mast-head. Saw three whale-ships fast to a piece 
 of ice. We were beset with ice during the forenoon. 
 About noon we cast off from the piece of ice to which 
 the ship had been made fast, and towards evening the sea 
 became much more clear of ice. Saw a glaucous gull 
 {Larus glaucus) for the first timt — a noble, dignified- 
 looking bird, the largest of the gull tribe — with vast 
 flocks of the little auk and looms. 
 
 Monday, \^t/i. — Having early this morning passed 
 Magdalena Bay, we this forenoon rounded Hakluyt's 
 Headland to look for an anchorage in Smeerenburg 
 Harbour, but which we found filled with the winter's ice, 
 the floes being still unbroken, and we had consequently 
 to make fast to the floe-edge, mid a southerly gale, and 
 heavy gusts of wind coming down the ravines and high 
 land above the harbour. Captain Parry himself went 
 with the boat to lay out an anchor with hawsers, on the 
 land ice, which was accomplished with great difficulty. 
 But the gale increased so much in force, with the swell 
 setting with so much fury on the floe-edge, where we 
 had made our anchor fast, that this part of the floe gave 
 way, and at ten p.m. the ship was adrift. 
 
 Several reindeer were seen on the snow at the foot of 
 the^mountain, which at first sight the boat's crew took 
 for bears, whilst they were passing a hawser round the 
 hummock of a floe. I saw a number of eider ducks, 
 dovekies and gulls in the harbour ; also some walruses 
 {Trichccus rosmarus). 
 
 u 
 
"P 
 
 :t to the 
 vhich we 
 sted out 
 n before 
 : service, 
 nt up to 
 i\ ing to- 
 fore-top- 
 a piece 
 brenoon. 
 to which 
 g the sea 
 :ous gull 
 lignirted- 
 'ith vast 
 
 passed 
 iakiuyt's 
 erenburg 
 Iter's ice, 
 equently 
 a^ale, and 
 ind high 
 self went 
 s, on the 
 lifficulty. 
 he swell 
 /here we 
 loe gave 
 
 e foot o{ 
 rew took 
 )und the 
 r ducks, 
 walruses 
 
 8. 
 
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 £^ 
 
Enter the Pack in a Calc of Wind. 
 
 387 
 
 Being compelled to stand out to sea — blowing so 
 tremendously, in violent gusts of \\in<1, we had to furl all 
 sail, save and except the main-topsail, close-reefed, and 
 the storm-staysail — passing through some stream icu. 
 Saw Cloven Cliff, off which a small iceberg was aground. 
 A faint yellowish tint appeared in the horizon, known as 
 the ice-blink, and indicating a considerable extent of ice 
 in that direction. Passed several sea-horses, or walruses, 
 and after some time spent in endeavours to weather the 
 pack, at the imminent risk of dashing the ship to pieces 
 against some of the larger and heavier masses, by being 
 driven on them in the terrific squalls, which at times 
 nearly threw her on her beam ends — drifting to leeward, 
 and having to wear several times, between Vogel Sang 
 and Cloven Cliff — we eventually had to seek shelter in 
 the pack by entering the loosest part of the margin of it, 
 under a press of sail about three a.m., and within an hour 
 afterwards, found ourselves quiedy reposing half a mile 
 or more within its confines. Whilst the gale was raging 
 all round this sheltering haven of ice, but had no effect 
 on us, fixed and stationary as we became by the pressure 
 of the surrounding ice on all sides. Every officer and 
 man had been on deck throughout this perilous night, 
 all the officers assisting in the working of the ship with 
 the men. 
 
 We had now time to make ourselves more comfortable 
 by having Sylvestre's stove lighted. The mainbrace 
 spliced, this means an extra allowance of grog and 
 rations of preserved meat served out, which the ship's 
 company partook of on deck. As I did not turn into 
 my cot till eight a.m., I for the first time in my life had 
 an opportunity afforded me of witnessing twenty-four 
 hours of daylight, the sun being now constantly above 
 the horizon : wind, S.W. 
 
 Tuesday, 15M.— We are now completely beset on all 
 sides by the pack, with fine clear weather and light 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 IK 
 
 southerly winds, the very contrast to the stormy, tem- 
 pestuous scenes we have gone through of late. Fulmar 
 petrel flew about the ship in great numbers and I went 
 upon the ice and shot eight of them and an ivory gull. 
 In the evening I shot a glaucous gull and another ivory 
 gull from the ship. Saw two walruses lying upon the 
 ice at some distance ahead of the ship. On the follow- 
 ing day a young bear came alongside the ship and was 
 shot. 
 
 Friday, \%th. — Being clear and fine weather, a party 
 consisting of Lieutenant Ross and Mr. Beverley and 
 three men were sent over the ice to attempt a landing, 
 the shore being three or four leagues distant. But they 
 returned after a few hours' absence, having met with a 
 lane of water arresting any further progress. They had 
 shot a few birds. Red Beach, on the northern coast of 
 Spitzbergen, oif which we are, is in latitude 80° N. and 
 longitude 13° E. 
 
 Salurc/ay, 19///. — The weather became thick and hazy 
 with falls of snow, the ship's side undergoing heavy 
 pressure from the surrounding ice, forced up in hummocks 
 around her, and getting her into a " nip." The whole pack 
 was .hrowp up into rude shapeless masses by the strong 
 westerly gale blowing, and, covered with a white mantle 
 from the falling snow, gave to the whole scene more the 
 appearance, as the crew expressed it, of a stone-mason's 
 yard, only on an exaggerated scale, than anything else 
 it could be compared to. Sylvestre's stove was lighted 
 to-day. 
 
 Sunday, 20th. — Divine rervice was as usual performed 
 by Captain Parry, tl>e text taken from the first chapter 
 and fifth and sixth verses of the Epistle of St. James. 
 Hot-air stove lighted. Light westerly winds and snow. 
 
 Monday, 21st. — Hot-air stove again lighted. 
 
 Ttiesday, 22nd. — Lieutenant Ross with two other 
 officers and three men were sent from the ship early this 
 
m 
 
 Captain Parry gives vie Charge of a Watch. 389 
 
 morning, and effected a landing over the ice, returning 
 on board again soon after noon, a signal having been 
 hoisted and several guns fired for their recall on a fog 
 coming on. For the last few days the pressure of the 
 ice has been so great as to force ujd immense hummocks 
 all round the ship. 
 
 Wednesday, 2'^rd. — To-day the ice seemed in motion, 
 separating in several places ; one hole of water made its 
 appearance near the ship ; so to assist in this movement 
 of the ice, we got sail on the ship, and " sallied " her to 
 loosen her from the ice-cradle in which she rested, but 
 without effect. 
 
 Thtirsday, 2\th. — A bear was seen near the ship hist 
 night, in the middle watch. The weather extremely 
 fine to-day, and although the temperature was not above 
 32°, seemed quite mild to our feelings. Sails were 
 loosed to-day, and the wheels for the polar boats got 
 upon deck, from the hold. Having seen a walrus blow- 
 ing in the hole of water near the ship, I took my gun 
 with me on the ice, and approaching the edge of the 
 hole just as he rose to blow, I fired a ball at and 
 wounded him, but he immediately dived under the ice, 
 and I saw no more of him. 
 
 Friday, 2^th. — Cloudy, with light south-easterly winds. 
 In removing one of the reindeer out of the launch on 
 deck this morning, its leg was broken, and it had to be 
 killed, poor thing. Captain Parry and Lieutenant Ross, 
 have been busily employed stowing the stores in their 
 boats, preparatory to their de[)arture. Captain Parry 
 finding the season already so far advancing, has resolved 
 upon losing no more time, and consequently, intends 
 leaving the ship where she is in the pack, and com- 
 mence his journey over the ice in the boats, on Sunday 
 morning next, the 27th. To-day, I shot a fulmar petrel 
 from the ship. 
 
 Saturday, 2bth. — Captain Parry told me to-day, that, 
 
 h 
 
 yimmmm 
 
T 
 
 I?) I I I' !> 
 
 ' i; 
 
 390 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 during his absence from the ship, he should give me the 
 charge of a watch on board the ship. The boats and 
 eight sledges, laden with stores and provisions, are 
 getting ready for his departure to-morrow. 
 
 Sunday, 27///. — At four a.m. the two travelling- boats 
 were lowered from the ship upon the ice, and by 
 seven a.m. had all their stores stowed in them, and the 
 sledges loaded. Then the reindeer were harnessed to 
 them. Captain Parry's boat and the dingy were hauled 
 to a floe-piece of ice about a hundred yards from the 
 ship, after a great deal of labour in getting them over the 
 rough, uneven, hummocky ice. On the wheels being 
 attached to one of the boats, they sank up to the axle- 
 tree in the soft snov/ covering the ice, and resisted the 
 attempts of all hands to move them. And after many 
 fruitless efforts, all unavailing, the deep snow drifted 
 between the rugged hummocks, rendering the boat quite 
 immovable. Captain Parry was most reluctantly com- 
 pelled to relinquish the attempt as hopeless and im- 
 practicable. Never, perhaps before, was witnessed so 
 novel and exciting a scene as the motley group of 
 officers and men, together with the boats on the wheels, 
 the sledges, and the reindeer, presented on the ice, along- 
 side of the Hecla this morning. The Polar party them- 
 selves were picturesque in the extreme, their travelling- 
 dresses, consisting of a racoon-skin cap, box-cloth jacket 
 with a hood for hauling over the head, breeches of the 
 same material, having their seats covered with a patch 
 of waterproof canvas, of a white colour, in striking con- 
 trast to the blue colour* of the cloth ; these were buckled 
 at the knee with a strap, from which gaiters of the same 
 material encased the legs. After their arduous and 
 laborious morning's work, all hands were piped to break- 
 fast, after which they were assembled on the quarter- 
 deck, and Captain Parry in a few words explained to 
 them the impossibility of proceeding over the ice in its 
 
Attempt to reach Red Beach with a Boat. 39 1 
 
 present condition. The whole forenoon was occupied in 
 removing the stores from the boats and sledges, and 
 getting them with the reindeer on board again. A party 
 of five men with the senior mate, under the command of 
 Lieutenant Ross, were sent away with the dingy, to 
 report upon the state of the ice at a distance from the 
 ship. They returned in the evening, having found it 
 better at some distance, but on proceeding still farther 
 on, found it again became worse than even that in the 
 vicinity of the ship. Captain Parry, when the returning 
 party were within a mile of the ship, sent a mate with a 
 party of four men to assist in getting the dingy on 
 board. One of the reindeer this morning, on being 
 hoisted out of the ship, was taken ill on the ice and 
 killed. I went up to the crow's-nest this forenoon, and 
 saw a walrus lying on the ice, about half a mile from the 
 ship. The weather during the day has been very fine 
 and clear. The sun quite warm, with light airs from the 
 north-west to east. Evening cloudy. 
 
 Monday, 2%th. — Lieutenant Crozier was this morning 
 sent away with a party to the eastward to ascertain the 
 condition of the ice, but a fog suddenly coming on, a 
 gun was fired for their recall. A boat was prepared to- 
 day for the polar party, the captain now contemplating 
 taking only one boat with him. Weather hazy, with some 
 sleet and snow falling, with light airs, ending in a rapid 
 thaw ; the ice separating in a number of places, and form- 
 ing holes of water, one very large one, on our port 
 quarter, in which several ivory gulls were swimming. 
 Wind N.E. 
 
 Tuesday, 29//^. — I left the ship at nine a.m., with 
 Lieutenant Foster and a party, to haul a boat over the 
 ice and land her on Red Beach, with stores and pro- 
 visions, to be deposited there for the use of the polar 
 party on their return, should they need them. After we 
 had hauled the boat over the very rugged hummocks. 
 
 I 
 
 .a 
 
392 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 with great exertion and labour, to a considerable distance 
 from the ship, about eleven a.m. a gun was fired for our 
 recall ; but our guns, having got wet in the snow, would 
 not go off, and we consequently answered the signal with 
 three cheers. Met Lieutenant Crozier with the dingy 
 and a party sent to assist us in getting on board. Having 
 left our boat on the spot to which we had hauled her, we 
 had no means of ferrying ourselves over the holes of 
 water between us and the ship, several very large ones 
 having opened ; we got on board soon after noon. 
 Lieutenant Foster, on being sent away again, got the 
 boat within about two miles of the shore, and returned 
 on board at eleven p.m. ; the forenoon being foggy, and 
 the afternoon clearing up occasioned these changes. 
 
 Wednesday, 30///. — The weather being fine and clear, 
 with a light breeze from the eastward, Lieutenant Foster 
 with a party, at ten a.m. again left the ship, to complete 
 the landing of the boat and stores, which they this time 
 accomplished, turning her bottom-up, with the stores 
 underneath upon the shore, returning on board at eleven 
 p.m., several guns being fired from the ship as signals to 
 the party. Just before they reached the beach the ice 
 opened and closed again at intervals near the ship. Saw 
 several eider-ducks and a very bright ice-blink to the 
 northward. 
 
 Thursday, "^ist. — Employed fitting the polar boats 
 and stowing the sledges. In the evening saw three 
 polar bears prowling ar st the hummocks of ice at 
 some distance from th -• ^^ in an easterly direction ; a 
 fire was lighted on the ice, and some meat burnt to attract 
 them by the smell, but they kept on their course to the 
 eastward. During the middle watch, however, it ap- 
 peared that a bear came alongside the ship. 
 
 Friday, June \st. — As we were drifting in shore a party 
 was employed to endeavour to extricate the ship from 
 the ice in which she was imbedded, by cutting through 
 
 M s 
 
Ship clear of the Pack. 
 
 393 
 
 it in the direction of a lane of water on the port 
 side. 
 
 Saturday, 2nd. — Still employed cutting away the ice 
 from the hull ; and in the afternoon a fresh breeze of 
 wind coming off the land, we took advantage of it to 
 unfurl all the sails and " sally " ship, so that in the evening 
 we found ourselves drifting from the shore. 
 
 Sunday, 2,^'d. — Wind gone down, and weather fine and 
 clear ; drifting to the eastward and in shore, very near 
 Grey's Hook. No divisions or divine service; all hands 
 employed on the ice and in " sallying ship." Several lanes 
 of water opened not far from the ship. More glaucous, 
 ivory, and kittiwake gulls have been seen to-day than for 
 some time past. 
 
 Monday, \th. During the middle watch last night the 
 ship entirely cleared herself from the ice that had sur- 
 rounded her, and ssed through the channel cut for 
 her into a lane ;ater on the port quarter, leaving 
 
 behind her a kind of dock or ice cradle she had formed for 
 herself in the ice that pressed around her, some seventy 
 or eighty yards on the starboard bow. During the day 
 some ivory gulls collected together about it, to pick up 
 the scraps that had been thrown overboard from the ship. 
 We were now drifting, at the rate of two miles an hour, to 
 the eastward, round Grey's Hook, and much closer in 
 shore. Across the entrance to Weyde Bay, which is not 
 less than two leagues in breadth, made fast head and stern 
 to a floe-piece ; water seen all around the pack, with a 
 dark water sky. Killed two of the reindeer to-day. 
 
 Tuesday, ^th. — Fine and clear weather, with light, 
 southerly winds ; made all sail, but went very little ahead, 
 and in the evening the ice had closed up all the lanes of 
 water, and the ship was stationary off the entrance to 
 Weyde's Bay ; made fast to some hummocks on a floe- 
 piece ; a number of gulls of various kinds were flying 
 about the ship to-day. 
 
 » 
 
 '^ 
 
394 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 Wednesday, 6th. — Drifting to the eastward and in shore; 
 saw a seal basking in the sun, and rolling over from side 
 to side, on a piece of ice near a hole of water at some 
 distance from the ship. About five p.m. Captain Parry, 
 with a party of officers and men, left the ship, and having 
 hauled their boat over the ice into open water, pulled on 
 shore, and landed near Mussel Bay, two miles in depth, 
 and ten miles S.W. of Verlegen Hook. They returned 
 on board about one a.m., having shot a reindeer and seen 
 several others ; lighted a fire on the beach with driftwood, 
 which they found in abundance, and made a cache of 
 provisions there, for any future emergencies that might 
 occur ; but found no suitable bay for securing the ship 
 in. 
 
 Friday, Zth. — Lieutenant Ross and a party went on 
 shore to collect some moss for the remaining reindeer on 
 board, and they shot a deer and brought it on board. In the 
 evening, a strong breeze of wind springing up from the 
 southward cleared the ship of the pack, and left a lane of 
 water in shore of us, after having been closely beset for 
 above three weeks, but with unusually fine and clear 
 weather, for these regions, during the whole period, with 
 fresh water on the floes. 
 
 Saturday, gth. — At three a.m. we rounded the low point 
 of land extending out from Verlegen Hook, in latitude 
 80° 16' N . ; the sea around us was now clear of ice, the 
 edge of the pack just appearing bounding the western 
 horizon. The land was in sight throughout the day, but 
 in the evening it became too hazy to see it. 
 
 Sunday, loth, — Divine service. Stood in towards the 
 land in search of a harbour for the ship, but found them 
 all blocked up with the winter's ice. Then stood to 
 the southward ; and Captain Parry went on shore in a 
 boat, to look for a harbour ; and in the evening we 
 shaped a northerly course again, with clear open water in 
 that direction, but a bright ice-blink to the westward. 
 
T 
 
 fT, 
 
 The Highest Latitude attained. 
 
 395 
 
 Land still in sight astern ; thus far our search for a 
 secure harbour for the ship has proved fruitless, 
 
 Tuesday, \2th. — Shaping a course for the Seven 
 Islands ; passed through much stream ice, and came in 
 contact with some of the larger masses, the ship surging 
 considerably as her bows struck against them. Saw six 
 walruses reposing on a piece of ice, at some distance on 
 the port side, and passed two others, having a glaucous 
 gull sitting near them on another piece, between lOO and 
 200 yards from the ship. Another was seen at the 
 same time swimming on our starboard side. We had 
 a fine view to-day of the Seven Islands, with a part 
 of the mainland of Spitzbergen and the Waygatz 
 Strait. Many glaucous, ivory gulls, fulmar petrel, dove- 
 kies, and looms, about the ship. Had Sylvestre's stove 
 lighted to-day, and one of the crow's-nests got down 
 this evening. 
 
 Thursday, yune i\th. — Standing to the northward 
 through more stream ice than we passed yesterday, with 
 a southerly breeze and cloudy weather. Small flocks of 
 little auk, dovekies, looms, kittiwake, and fulmar petrel 
 flying about. At midnight I went up to the crow's-nest 
 at the fore-topgallant mast-head, and whilst I was there 
 the ship was put about, in lat. 81° 6' 34" N., and 
 long. 1 9° 34' E., the highest latitude yet reached by any 
 well-authenticated record, perhaps, with the exception 
 of Mr. Scoresby's observation, in 81° 12' 42''. I saw all 
 around me open water clear of ice, as far as the eye could 
 reach, from my elevated position, encircled on all sides by 
 a panorama at once novel, striking, and deeply interest- 
 ing, a scene never to be forgotten, 
 
 From memory's tablet ne'er to be erased, 
 Though all things else from it shall be effaced. 
 
 With the aid of the telescope even nothing but loose 
 sailing ice could be seen in the northern horizon. And 
 
 i 
 
 sacsssari 
 
39^5 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 i:ii- 
 
 I IK 
 
 m 
 
 oh ! how I then wished we could have made a dash for 
 the Pole in the ship herself ! 
 
 Friday, i^th. — Last night when we tacked, in our 
 farthest northern latitude, we took in the topgallant sails, 
 furled the main-sail, and shaped a course for the Seven 
 Isles. To-day they were in sight ; clear water, hazy 
 weather, with small snow at intervals, and westerly winds. 
 Towards evening it fell calm, and Captain Parry gave mc 
 the dingy, during the first watch, to go after some 
 birds, and after pulling about until ten p.m., I returned 
 on board, having shot three little auk, a kittiwake, and 
 loom, probably in a higher latitude than ever birds fell 
 to a gun before, and were consequently skinned and 
 preserved at once with the greatest care. One of the 
 little auk I still have in my own collection of Arctic birds, 
 and a second is in the Edinburgh Museum of Natural 
 History, which my late lamented friend, Professor Jame- 
 son, exhibited in one of his lectures at the University in 
 the year 1830, when I was attending his course of 
 lectures on Natural History. A light breeze springing 
 up, we stood in for the land. The thermometer on deck 
 was 30°, and below in the cabin 54° Fahrenheit. 
 
 Saturday, \6t/i. — Captain Parry and Lieutenant Foster 
 left the ship in two boa^^s in search of a harbour amongst 
 the Seven Islandc, but returned on board in the evening 
 unsuccessful. They landed on Walden Island, which, it 
 appears, is of granitic formation, rising to about 500 feet 
 above the sea in lat. 80° 35' N., and long. 19" 51' E. 
 They here made a cac^ie of provisions for the polar boats 
 on their return. ' I went up into the crow's-nest and took 
 a sketch of the islands from this altitude ; they are still 
 united together by the winter's ice or land floe. Walden 
 Island is a very barren-looking rock, having scarcely a 
 vestige of even moss or lichen on its cold, grey looking, 
 high and steep, almost perpendicular sides. 
 
 Sunday, \']th. — This forenoon Lieutenant Ross and 
 
 W Miirtiiii 
 
V 
 
 ' oster 
 
 mi- 
 
 rS'--"'-' 
 
 and 
 
 :l!'i 
 
 II 
 
 A. 
 
w 
 
Off Waygatz Slrait. 
 
 397 
 
 Mr. Beverley landed on the northernmost of the seven 
 islands, called Little Table Island, and made some caches 
 of provisions there. I had a fine view this evening of 
 the whole of the islands from the crow's-nest. When we 
 shaped our course for the mainland of Spitzbergen I saw 
 a flock of eider duck and several dovckies and looms. 
 
 Monday, \ %th. — Wc were off the entrance to the Way- 
 gatz Strait. Passed a bear on a floe-piece of ice, so close 
 to the ship that she came in contact with one end of it. 
 Weather cloudy, with strong westerly winds. This 
 forenoon Lieutenant Foster was sent away in a boat 
 sounding. 
 
 Waldcn Island, Spitzbcrgcn. {See pa^e 396 ) 
 
 WW 
 
 ■A \ 
 
Cloven ClilT, Spiuberijcii. (^SVf />(/(,'<• 387.) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ITecla scfured in Trcurcnberg Bay — I land in Ilccia Cove, and shoot a 
 reindeer— A walrus family circle— Cutting a canal through the ice. 
 — Departure of polar boats — Commence my duties in charge of a 
 watch — Deer-shooting excursion to opposite shore- -Shoot a polar 
 bear— Sliip driven ashore — Flora of the islands. 
 
 Tuesday, \()th. — Two boats left the ship with Captain 
 Parry, Lieutenant Ross, and Mr, Beverley, to look for a 
 harbour round a low point of land extending out to the 
 eastward of Verlegen Hook, whici. 'jy had the good 
 fortune very soon to find within a fine bay named by the 
 Dutch in the chart Treurenberg Bay, or Bay of Sorrow, 
 and after sounding the entrance to it returned on board. 
 All hands were now turned up, and Captain Parry, 
 addressing them, said that as a fine harbour had at last 
 been found, he expected to have the Hecla secured in it 
 before they slept. I saw the Waygatz from the crow's- 
 nest to-day. . In working in for the harbour I witnessed 
 a most gratifying scene for the naturalist. As the ship 
 neared a piece of ice, on which a pair of walruses, with 
 their young one, were reposing, with a pair of glaucous 
 gulls standing quietly near them, they became alarmed 
 for the safety of the cub, probably the only son and heir 
 to their icy domain. After many and fruitless attempts 
 
My First Landing in SpHzhergen. 
 
 399 
 
 to induce tlu: sonu.wh;it wilful youngster to take to the 
 water, one of the parents rolled his huge carcase off the 
 ice into the sea and swam alonj^ the ice-edge, whilst 
 the other persistently, but carefully ind gradually, rolled 
 its little treasure before its own massive form till it 
 reached the margin of the piece of ice, when, with the 
 aid of its (Uppers, it gently lowered the little creature 
 into the sea, where the other parent was in readiness to 
 receive it ; when these not very ulegant, huf certainly 
 most affectionate, creatures swam away with their pet 
 offspring carefully guarded between them. As we 
 approached the shore I saw a large bear prowling along 
 the beach, and several reindeer gra;fing on the moss-clad 
 land. We found a great deal of ice in the bay, through 
 which we warped the ship, and made fast to the land ice 
 with ice-anchors, the winter's lloe not having yet broken 
 up in this deep bay. We got the ship secured by mid- 
 night. A solitary reindeer was fe«;ding at the base of 
 the high mountain above the cove whilst we were warp- 
 ing the ship up to the ice-edge. 
 
 Wednesday, 20/h. — About half-past two o'clock this 
 morning I walked over the floe between the ship and the 
 shore, and landed for the first time in my life on an island 
 in which I have always felt so much interested— deso- 
 late Spitzbergen. All was silence and solitude. As I 
 strolled alone — my only companion my gun — in the 
 direction of the spot where I had first seen the solitary 
 reindeer, and as I rounded the spur of the mountain I 
 sighted it lying down near a low ridge of rocks not far 
 from the spot where it first attracted my attention. On 
 seeing me it suddenly rose and made an attempt to 
 escape the fate that awaited it, but I fired as it was 
 moving off and wounded it so severely that I was 
 enabled by running to come up with it before it could 
 climb, wounded as it was, over the ridge. It turned 
 round upon me, and stood at bay. On its butting at me, 
 
 mmimtt^miBlieamttm 
 
400 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 !■ l! 
 
 I&H 
 
 I Struck it on the forehead between the antlers with the 
 butt-end of my double-barrelled gun, unfortunately break- 
 ing the stock off at the narrow checkered part. I had to 
 seize the deer, which was a fine, powerful male animal, 
 by his handsome branched antlers, still covered with their 
 velvety down, and after a struggle I severed the large 
 artery in the neck with my penknife. I saw two more 
 deer and a pair of brent-geese as I returned on board 
 about five p.m. The ship was at anchor in thirteen 
 fathoms, on a bottom of blue clay, and secured to the 
 land ice by hawsers. The curve in the bay in which she 
 lies on the port side was named after the ship, Hecla 
 Cove. After a few hours' rest the ship's company, both 
 officers and men, were all busily employed in cutting a 
 canal about a quarter of a mile in length, to which the 
 ship was warped to a position nearer in shore, and made 
 fast to the rocks with a cable, having besides this an 
 anchor and chain cable out in the bay. A novel and 
 animating scene the ice presented, the fine old ship her- 
 self forming the centre piece of the busy group, as they 
 worked with the long ice saws attached to two triangles 
 in sawing diagonally through the ice across the canal, or 
 with hand-saws, handspikes, boat-hooks, and boarding- 
 pikes shoved the detached fragments out of the canal 
 after they had been separated by the saws. The day 
 proved extremely fine, with a bright sun shining, and all 
 except myself were wearing shades of green crape over 
 the eyes, that had been served out for the purpose ; but 
 my own omission of this, in most cases, useful precaution 
 had not escaped the keen, observant eye of Parry, who 
 came up to me as I was towing a large fragment of ice 
 out of the canal, and, goodnaturedly taking off my cap, 
 attached to its peak a small square piece of the green 
 crape which he took out of his pocket, accompanying 
 the action with a friendly rebuke on my reckless exposure 
 of my sight to the intense white glare of the snow under 
 

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 X 
 
 c 
 
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 e 
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 I, 1 
 
 II 
 
 ( 
 
 
 ■ J ■;" 
 
Hff 
 
 ■■■ 
 
 IN 
 
 BiMJ., I 
 
 IN 
 
Departure of the Polar Boals. 
 
 401 
 
 the dazzling rays of the sun. In the evening I went on 
 shore, taking one of the crew with me to bring the deer 
 on board I shot hist night. We found a fox enjoying his 
 supper upon it ; he had ah"eady changed his white winter 
 coat for the more sombre brown summer one, and doubt- 
 less little dreaming of having his solitary meal so uncere- 
 moniously disturbed by a shot. I fired at him as he 
 bounded off scatheless. Having omitted to grallock the 
 deer when I shot it, the lapse of twenty-four hours even in 
 this climate had rendered it wholly unfit for food. I 
 preserved the fine antlers with their beautifully soft surface, 
 with the feet, and have them still in my collection. I 
 saw some brent-geese and another deer, but could not get 
 within shot of them. Mr. Beverley found an eider-duck's 
 nest with three eggs. Mr. Fiddes, our worthy and 
 ingenious old ship's carpenter, soon repaired my fractured 
 gun-stock with a piece of brass from an old sextant. 
 
 Thursday, 2\sl. — All hands employed this forenoon in 
 getting the launch on shore and well hauled up on the 
 beach, hoisting out the polar boats on the ice, and stowing 
 them with seventy-one days' provisions and stores, which, 
 including the two boats and other things, gave a weight of 
 about 260 lbs. per man to draw; each boat had two officers, 
 ten seamen, and two marines. Captain Parry's boat 
 was named the Enterprise, and Lieutenant Ross's the 
 Endeavour. Between five and six p.m. they tcjk their 
 departure, accompanied by Lieutenant Crozier in one of the 
 ship's cutters, with an extra allowance of provisions, as far 
 asWalden and Low Islands, for their use on their return. 
 
 We gave them three hearty cheers from the ship, which 
 was as heartily returned by the boats. I went on shore, 
 and from Flagstaff Point, at the outer corner of the cove, 
 saw them clear of the bay, and on returning on board 
 I went up to the " crow's-nest " at the mast-head, and 
 took a last view of them as they threaded their way through 
 
 
 % 
 III 
 
 Hfl, 
 
 ill 
 
 % 
 
 the narrow leads of water amongst the ice. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 D d 
 
 \% 
 
 I 
 
402 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 f 
 
 %\ 
 
 How gladly then would I have exchanged places with 
 any one of the boat's crew, and cheerfully worked at the 
 paddle or drag-belt, with such a glorious prospect in view 
 as that of unfurling our time-honoured flag on the Pole 
 of our planet ! 
 
 Friday, 22nd. — The ship's company commenced land- 
 ing twelve months' provisions and stores to be left on 
 shore as a depot with the launch, as a reserve for the polar 
 party in the event of the ship being unavoidably driven 
 out to sea from the bay, and by any unforeseen accident 
 prevented from reaching it again, which would necessi- 
 tate the boats' crews wintering there on their return. 
 
 Sunday, 24//^. — Early in the morning watch a bear and 
 her cub came alongside the ship, and after having been 
 wounded by the officer of the watch, who had fired two 
 shots at her, made off across the bay ice for the shore. 
 Roused from my morning's slumber by the unusual noise 
 on deck, I hastily dressed, ran on deck, and was soon 
 over the ship's side in pursuit. After tracking them 
 over the floe to one of the hills by Hecla Cove, and 
 getting two long shots, both mother and cub returned to 
 the floe again and made for the top of the bay. In this 
 manccuvre they were intercepted by one of the ship's 
 company, concealed behind a hummock of ice, giving her 
 the coup-dc-^ri\cc by a ball from a ship's musket ; but the 
 cub escaped on shore. Lieutenant Foster this forenoon 
 performed divine service ; and in the afternoon pemmican 
 was served out to the crew, with leave to go on shore 
 on a shooting excursion. They saw two bears during 
 their" rambles. The weather continues to be very fine 
 and clear. 
 
 Monday, 2^tli. — The Hccla, being now left with a 
 diminished number of her executive officers for keeping 
 the watches, I entered upon my new executive duties as 
 had been arranged by Captain Parry before his departure 
 in the boats, by my keeping this morning's watch. These 
 
 .1; 
 
^ 
 
 ith 
 
 Commence my ncio Duties of keeping the Watch. 403 
 
 duties will be simple enough, so long as we remain at 
 anchor in the harbour. But should we, by any chance, 
 be driven out to sea, my innate, indeed, I may say, here- 
 ditary predilection, for navigation and seamanship, which 
 prompted me, on my first entrance into the service, to 
 commence taking observations for the latitude and longi- 
 tude, and keeping the vessel's reckoning, will prove 
 valuable to me now. I saw several white whales (^Dcl- 
 phitnls albicans) and walruses swimming about at the 
 top of the canal. About noon Lieutenant Crozier and 
 his party returned from Little Table Island, having 
 deposited a cache of provisions on Low Lslet, lying just 
 off it. They left the polar boats and party all well at 
 Walden Island at four p.m. on Saturday, the 23rd. 
 
 Tuesday, 26th. — I had the charge of the middle watch, 
 and went on shore in the evening with my gun, accom- 
 panied by one of my messmates, and each of us about 
 midnight succeeded in shooting a deer amongst the 
 ridges of rocks skirting the bay. We first rolled the 
 carcases of the deer down the precipitous snowy slopes 
 to the floe beneath, and then followed ourselves, by sliding 
 down the slippery, hard surface of the snow to the 
 bottom. Afterwards dragged the deer across the bay- 
 floe to the ship. 1 made mine fast to my shot-belt with 
 my handkerchief. On the following day I again went on 
 shore in the afternoon, and killed another deer on the 
 plain, over by the W'aygatz beach. 
 
 Thursday, 28th. — Light, northerly winds, with snow 
 and sleet. Shot an ivory gull from the ship. Went on 
 shore in the evening, and shot three sandpipers {JTriuga 
 maritima) on the rocky point at the entrance to the 
 bay, and saw a brown fox, but could not get within shot 
 of him. I returned on board for the dingy, and pulled 
 myself about amongst the ice in the bay, which is fast 
 breaking up all round the canal cut for the ship, and 
 in motion everywhere. There is open water now to 
 
 D d 2 
 
 R M 
 
 i'l 
 
i/V 
 
 404 
 
 Voyat^cs of Discovery. 
 
 W J 
 
 \m 
 
 m -f. > 
 
 ' \:: 
 
 the rocky point, so that we can land in the bouts. I shot 
 an eider-duck (Anas mollissima), a dovekie, and an 
 arctic gull [Lestris parasiticus), and kept the middle 
 watch afterwards. 
 
 Friday, 29/4. — The boats landed the last of the pro- 
 visions for the launch to-day. A great deal of hum- 
 niocky ice set into the bay, with cloudy, squally weather, 
 and snow at intervals in the night. I kept the first 
 watch. 
 
 Satu7-day, 30///. — A shooting party left the ship in one 
 of the cutters, landing on the opposite side of the bay, 
 which appears to afford the best shooting-ground here, 
 the long tract of moss and grass-covert land extending 
 between the base of the ridge of hills and the shores of 
 the bay, where there is excellent pasturage for the deer, 
 of which we met with several herds. I had the good 
 fortune myself to shoot five of them, one being a fawn ; 
 five more were killed by the rest of the party. We made 
 a fire with driftwood on the beach near the boat, over 
 which we cooked some preserved meats, with biscuit, 
 and grog mixed with lemon-juice or lime-juice — that 
 invaluable anti-scorbutic, with which all polar explorers 
 should be supplied with daily rations, to be served out 
 with the same regularity as the grog, whether on board 
 ship, or on the floe with boat or sledge. Then they need 
 have no fear or apprehensions of being attacked by 
 scurvy, that sad scourge of all high latitudes. 
 
 After the exercise and keen air in the chase of the 
 deer we partook of our excellent dinner with keen appe- 
 tites, enjoying the novel sort of picnic very much. I 
 also shot an arctic gull, eider-duck, and brent-goose 
 {Anas bernicla). for the collection. When returning on 
 board in the evening, we fired at and wounded a large 
 seal [Phoca grcenlandica) lying on a piece of ice ; but 
 before we could reach him he struggled off into the 
 water, and sank immediately. We also fired at and 
 
.: 1 
 
 Ship driven on Shore by breaking up of Ihe Floe. 405 
 
 wounded a walrus, swimming near the boat, when he 
 dived and brought up another with him. But they soon 
 disappeared again below the surface, and showed no dis- 
 position to attack the boat, although it has been said that 
 when one of these animals happens to be wounded among 
 a herd, the whole of the herd will make a combined 
 attack on a boat with their tusks, which would very 
 soon stave a boat. Weather fine, with light northerly 
 winds. 
 
 Smiday, yuty \st. — Lieutenant Foster performed 
 divine service, and read the articles of war on the quarter- 
 deck. ' 
 
 Ttiesday, i^rd. — I went on shore in the afternoon, and 
 shot an eider-drake ; and again, on the following evening, 
 after two deer, but could not get within shot of either of 
 them. Shot a sandpiper, and brought it on board ; also 
 a glaucous and arctic gull on the beach round the rocky 
 point of the cove, but, owing to their falling into the sea, 
 and having no boat with me, I lost them. I therefore 
 now took the dingy, and pulled myself about the bay 
 nearly all night, but only shot an eider-drake. Immense 
 quantities of the bay floe have been drifting out of the 
 bay. One of our Lapland deer died to-day. 
 
 Thursday, ^th. — This evening pulled about the bay in 
 the dingy till midnight. Shot a dovekie, an ivory and 
 a glaucous gull, with two terns (Sterna arcticd). Fine, 
 clear weather, with light northerly winds. 
 
 Friday, 6th. — The strong breezes blowing to-day have 
 nearly cleared the whole bay of ice. I took the dingy 
 in the evening, and pulled about the bay till midnight, 
 returning with an ivory gull, fulmar petrel, kittiwake, and 
 six dovekies, three of the latter at each shot. 
 
 Saturday, 'jth. — Cloudy weather, with strong, southerly 
 winds ; brought an immense body of ice down from the 
 uppermost part of the bay, which came upon us so sud- 
 denly that the ship was driven before it on shore, but 
 
 ! 
 
 Ill 
 ii t 
 
 w 
 
 rsET 
 
4o6 
 
 I 'oyas^cs of Discovery. 
 
 i£ I 
 
 '^'^'^ 
 
 fortunately she grouncletl on a inuckly bottom, not far 
 from the rocks on the beach. We struck the topgalhint 
 masts, and hove overboard most of the stone-ballast 
 we had only taken in a few days previously, and at 
 high water endeavoured to get her afloat, but failed in 
 the attempt. 
 
 Sunday, St/i. — By carrying an anchor out we warped 
 the ship off this afternoon, after much laborious exertion 
 at the capstan and windlass, at which every officer and 
 man in the ship worked alike with unflagging energy. 
 Pi;mps worked, but no water in the hold. 
 
 Tuesday, \oi/i. — A great deal of ice, which had come 
 Into the bay during the night, has been setting out again 
 throughout the day. Ship's company employed watering 
 ship. I kept the four to six p.m. watch. A few days 
 ago I saw a finner whale in the bay, blowing and spouting 
 Vip the water, as he rose above the surface. 
 
 Wednesday, wth. — Blowing a southerly gale, drifting 
 the ice out of the bay. All hands employed getting the 
 ballast on board again. I went on shore and shot a 
 deer, and two young snow buntings {Enibenza nk'a/i\), 
 and collected a few plants. 
 
 Friday, \2>^h. — Cloudy weather, with fresh breezes, 
 which, in the evening, increased to a gale of wind. All 
 hands employed watering ship, and getting ballast on 
 board. I went on shore in the afternoon, and col- 
 lected some plants, and in the evening pulled about the 
 bay in the dingy, and shot a dovekie. 
 
 Saturday, it^th. — I left the ship about ten a.m., and 
 \yalked to the top of the bay, returning on board about 
 four p.m., having collected some plants, and shot a grouse, 
 or, rather?' ptarmigan [Tetrao lagopus). I saw several 
 young ones, and also shot a snow bunting, two sand- 
 pipers, a kittiwake, and a ringed plover {Charadrius 
 hiatunld), the latter bird was the only one seen during 
 our voyage. All hands employed in watering ship and 
 
Reindeer-shooting Excursion . 
 
 407 
 
 getting ballast on board. In the evening the ice was 
 again settingi»into the ba^^^ 
 
 Monday, le/Z/.-^Warped the ship nearer the shore to 
 a soft mud bottom, so as to secure her from the enormous 
 pressure of thc^jce drifting in and 'out of the bay, and 
 prevent her Irom being forced upon the^ rocks by it. 
 
 Thursday, icih. — We formed another deer-shooting 
 party for the opposite side of the bay, which we have 
 found to be the chief resort of the deer, there being a 
 great deal of vegetation, a rich lu.xuriant turf, witii 
 several lakes of water, much frequented by the wild fowl. 
 Eleven deer altogethE^rj^wi^re killed by the party, four 
 of them shtet^y myself; I also shot four looms, an eider- 
 duck, and arctic gull. Some ducks' and gulls' eggs were 
 ■ also found on the beach by some of our party Having 
 taken "a tent with us to-day, we pitched it on the beach 
 to dine in, and returnecj on board about eleven p.m. To- 
 day being the anniverscyyj^Lki» ^ajesty's coronation, a 
 royaT^'s^te j]k^ fired ^innonour of the event at one 
 o'clock, by the small guns at the observatory on shore. 
 The hot-air stove was Ijghfeed^on board to-day. Fine 
 weathei% with Ijght hortfip^Ty winds. 
 
 ... Smtday^'yuly 22nd. — Every officer and man in the 
 ship employed at the capstan or windlass in getting out 
 two hawsers to the 'ghore, and niooring ship afresh — 
 sh^ having duringn1i«*night"fihifted the cable from the 
 rocks to which it had been made fast. I had the after- 
 noon watch, and in the evening I went on shore to col- 
 lect some of the beautiful little primrose-coloured poppies 
 which I had noticed forming a bright spot like a little 
 oasis on a projecting crag, at some height up the almost 
 perpendicular acclivity of the mountain-side, where a rich 
 soil had lodged, producing a luxuriant, moss-clad turf. 
 I found the ascent so steep as I advanced, that it was 
 with no small difficulty I succeeded in clambering up to 
 it, but I was rewarded by the unusual size and fine colour 
 
 n 
 
 ; ! ■ 
 
 -^n 
 
4o8 
 
 I 'oyaocs flf Discoveiy. 
 
 of tlu! flowers, more especially of the poppy {Papaver 
 niidiraule), which, from their sheltered position in so rich 
 a bit of turf, aided by the radiation of heat from the side 
 of the mountain exposed to the full j^lare of the mid-day 
 sun, had attained an unusual size and beauty. It is one 
 of the most characteristic flowers of the Arctic regions, 
 together with the little orange-coloured saxifrage [S. 
 Jlai^clan's), with its bell-shaped corolla in the centre of 
 its strawberry-like tendrils or runners, and the purple saxi- 
 frage {Scixi/raQa o/yposi/ifo/ia) , the Ranunculus nivalis, the 
 Cerastium alpinum, and Andromeda tctragona, are also 
 very generally distributed; and amongst the Crucifera, 
 Draba alpina and Parrya ardica. The most :5triking 
 flower amongst the Rosaceoi is the Diyas oclopclala, and of 
 the lichens, the reindeer moss {Ccnoniycc rangiferind) and 
 Lccanora clcgans. The dwarf willow [Salix arctica) is 
 the only representative of arborescent vegetation creeping 
 amongst the moss-clad turf, with its tortuous, root-like 
 brown stems, not above an inch or two in height, but 
 rendered conspicuous by its silvery-white, small, floccu- 
 lent catkins. 
 
 ,. .£'- 
 
 iHS- 
 
 
 Hills west side of Ticurenborjj Hay. (Scv fiirj^c 404.) 
 
!B!»i 
 
 ■A 
 
 Remarkable round hill, Treurenbcrg Hay, Spitzbergen. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I! 
 
 Return of the polar boats — Seal-shooting— Ptarmigan-shootin^;— Under 
 weigh from Heda Cove — Land at Red licacli— Homcward-Ijound. 
 
 Monday, 2 3;-^'. —Lieutenant Crozier, with the junior 
 mate and a boat's crew, left the ship to-day for the 
 rendezvous of the polar party, Walden Island, Little 
 Table, and Low Islands. Flags were placed at various 
 points around the bay, preparatory for the survey of it. 
 I shot a seal throusfh the head as he was swimming, but 
 he sank before I could reach him in the boat. I also 
 shot two eider-ducks, two tern, two sandpipers, an arctic 
 gull, dovekie, and little auk. Found a tern's nest with 
 two eggs on the beach, a simple excavation in the 
 shingle, without any kind of lining whatever. The 
 parent birds made a great clamour on approaching their 
 nest, darting in a furious manner at my head, repeatedly 
 renewing the attack, each time nearer, till within a few 
 inches of my hat, until I was some distance away from 
 the nest ; I also found two eider-ducks' nests, with four 
 eggs in each (their usual number), deposited in a very 
 different manner to the tern's — having a warm lining of 
 soft down, which the birds pluck from their own breasts 
 for the purpose. I returned on board about eight p.m , 
 
 III 
 
 .^-1 
 
4to 
 
 / '(lyases of Discovery 
 
 w 
 
 
 and in crossing over the bay, saw a };reat number of little 
 auk near the entrance ; the first Hock I liave seen of them 
 during our stay here, and no king-ducks whatever. 
 Light easterly winds with snow and sleet at intervals. 
 
 Tuesday y 24///. — Lieutenant booster away with a party 
 surveying the bay. The last of our Lapland reindeer 
 died to-day. 
 
 Saturday, 28///. — About six p.m. our boat returned 
 from the .Seven Islands, and having reported that they 
 had seen a bear walking along the beach, outside of the 
 harbour, about three miles from the ship a party was 
 soon got up to go in pursuit of him, consisting of three 
 ofificersand three men, starting from the ship in the midst 
 of a snow-storm, sleet, and small snow, almost blinding us. 
 When we had got within about a quarter of a mile of the 
 spot where he had been seen, we discovered him feeding 
 on the carcase of a seal, which had been washed up on the 
 beach, and doubtless was the one 1 had shot in the bay 
 a few days previously. No sooner had bruin fixed his 
 eyes on us than he began sniffing the air with his snout 
 turned upwards, watching us suspiciously for some 
 seconds, and then resumed his feast. We halted at the 
 base of a rising ground, to examine the condition of our 
 percussion-caps and the priming of the ship's muskets, 
 and to arrange our plan of attack. We separated into 
 three divisions, one to proceed along the beach, the 
 second to make a circuit of the ridges inland of him, so 
 as to cut off all retreat, whilst the third party, consisting 
 of myself and the third mate, with double-barrelled fowling 
 pieces, formed the centre division, advancing in a direct 
 line upon him. When we had arrived within thirty-five 
 yards of him he turned from the seal and advanced a few 
 paces towards us, then halted, opening his jaws and 
 showing his formidable upper and lower tier of teeth, 
 eyeing us with a fierce and savage scowl, evincing some 
 disposition to be the attacking party, or at all events to 
 
 ^f:] 
 
 B' \^ 
 
Attack and s/ioot a Polar luar on the Hcacli. 4 1 1 
 
 defend his hirder. But vvegavi; him scant time for action, 
 which I anticipated by firing the first shot, gra/.inj^f his 
 forefoot, which he shook violently, at the same instant, 
 turning his head round, made a bite at his own side, ap- 
 parently actuated to do so by the pain from the wound. 
 The report had scarcely died away from my own ^ww, 
 when my companion fired, and his ball missing, I dis- 
 charged my second barrel just as bruin was plunging into 
 the sea, but with no better effect. Hy this time the two 
 other divisions had come up and opened a volley upon 
 the retreating fugitive, before which he swam with the 
 greatest rapidity, apparently unscathed. Although we 
 had one or two good shots in our party, our benumbed 
 fingers from the extreme severity of the weather, and 
 the blinding sleet and snow-drift in our eyes, with the 
 somewhat hurried firing, explain our failure. Whilst my 
 companions were discharging their guns, I was reloading 
 mine, both barrels, with some difficulty, in the almost 
 insensible state of the fingers' ends, when the hand 
 was ungloved. Bruin by this time had placed about 
 100 yards between us, almost beyond range. How- 
 ever, taking as steady an aim as I could when he 
 was broadside on to me, I was fortunate enough 
 to plant a ball behind his shoulder, wounding him so 
 badly, that the blood from the wound dyed his cream- 
 white coat with crimson, compelling him to bear up for 
 the nearest piece of ice aground in the wash of the surf, 
 upon which he managed with no little difficulty to 
 clamber, colouring it and the water around red with his 
 life's blood. The rest of the party, having reloaded, 
 opened a whole volley upon him, and he rolled his huge 
 carcase over into the deep, without a moan or groan 
 escaping him. The sea washed him high enough up the 
 beach to enable us by wading up to our waists in the 
 water to drag his enormous, unwieldy form through the 
 surf, and aboye high-water mark. This, after no slight 
 
 i'f 
 
f( 
 
 
 i 
 
 412 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 t I 
 
 exertion, v/e managed to do, but with some difficulty, 
 notwithstanding there were six of us, with all the health 
 and strength of youth, and there we left his remains for 
 the present. 
 
 Sunday, 29///, — Snow, sleet, and fresh northerly winds. 
 Ship having struck the ground last night, we hove her 
 into deep water to-day. 
 
 Monday, ■}^oth. — The snow recently fallen on the 
 summits of the mountains has given them quite a wintry 
 aspect. We had Sylvestre's stove lighted to-day. 
 
 Ttiesday, 31^/. — Cloudy, with small rain in the afternoon 
 and light, southerly winds. At ten a.m. a party of us left 
 the ship and crossed over the bay to the opposite side on 
 a deer-shooting excursion, and pitched our tent there, in 
 which we dined. Six deer in all were killed, two of that 
 number shot by myself. I also shot an arctic gull, and 
 had a shot at a seal, returning on board at ten p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, August ist. — I paid a visit to the dead 
 bear, whose carcase had proved a great attraction to the 
 gull tribe, and where I shot a fine glaucous and three 
 ivory gulls, whilst they were feasting on it, and others on 
 the next day. 
 
 Monday, 6th. — We left the ship on a reindeer-shooting 
 excursion for two days. Pitched a tent to sleep in- 
 Sixteen deer were killed in all, six of them by myself, and 
 a share in the seventh, a large stag with splendid antlers ; 
 but as it appeared to be a debatable point as to who 
 should claim the head, the hunter's perquisite, the officer 
 who had a hand in killing it and myself agreed to present 
 the magnificent antlers to a messmate, who was one of 
 the shooting party. I also shot an arctic gull, two kitti- 
 wakes, and two sandpipers. Saw two foxes, fired at one, 
 biit missed him. ' 
 
 Wednesday, i^th. — To-day a man was stationed at the 
 rocks by the signal-post on the point of Hecla Cove, to 
 look out for the return of the polar boats ; three of the 
 ship's company were placed in three watches for this 
 
n ; 
 
 Return of the Polar Boats. 
 
 ^'3 
 
 particular duty. Surveying parties are out almost every 
 day. 
 
 Tuesday, August 2 ist. — Left the ship this morning with 
 a deer-shooting party for the opposite side of the bay. I 
 only saw five deer, and they were so shy and wary, I 
 could only get within a very long shot of one of them, 
 which I fired at, but missed. The deer have now nearly 
 all deserted the bay, either from having been so much 
 disturbed by our shooting parties or the approach of winter, 
 perhaps both causes may have contributed their influence, 
 I only shot an arctic gull and picked up a few plants. 
 When returning from the pursuit of a deer to the boat at 
 three p.m., having only just seated myself on the beach 
 to take some dinner, one of our party discovered the 
 ensign flying on the flagstaff at the entrance to the cove, 
 this being the signal for the polar boats being in sight. 
 We at once got into the boat and shoved off for the ship, 
 without a single deer having been killed by any one of 
 our party. As soon as we had got on board I hastened 
 up to the " crow's-nest," from which I plainly saw the 
 returning boats pulling along in shore, about two miles 
 off. There were three boats, the party having brought 
 back with them the boat from Walden Island. A boat 
 was sent from the ship to meet them, and as they came 
 round the point into the bay, with ensigns flying, we 
 saluted them with twenty-one guns. It appeared that after 
 great exertions they had attained the latitude of 82° 45' 
 N., longitude 19° 25' E., 172 miles from the ship, but the 
 whole distance gone over was not less than 569 treo- 
 graphical miles ; the highest latitude was reached on the 
 23rd of July ; absence from the ship sixty-one days. 
 
 Wednesday, 22nd. — I shot a seal through the head as 
 he was swimming across the entrance of the bay, and 
 although I lost not a moment in pulling alongside of 
 him, he sank just as I was in the very act of seizing hold 
 of him by the flipper. He was quite dead, and went 
 down with a bubbling sound. The ship's company 
 
 
 m 
 
4'4 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 ill 
 
 m! 
 
 1'! 
 
 'i ,:; 
 
 employed in getting stores on board from the launch. 
 Mr. Beverley and I fell in with a covey of ptarmigan or 
 grouse [Teirao lai>^optis) in their full, brown summer 
 plumage amongst the rocks at the base of the mountain 
 above Hecla Cove, and out of the covey of nine birds 
 I shot five and wounded a sixth, which escaped. Mr. 
 Beverley killed the other three. 
 
 Friday, 2\th. — The launch with all the remaining 
 stores were got on board to-day from the beach. 
 
 Sunday^ 26tk. — This forenoon the ship's company 
 were employed in getting the ship ready for weighing 
 anchor early to-morrow morning, but a heavy fall of 
 snow, with a contrary wind, prevented our sailing. This 
 evening a boat was sent on shore to complete the supply 
 of water for the ship. 
 
 Tuesday, 28//^. — Sylvestre's stove lighted to-day. I 
 went on shore this forenoon, and shot a kittiwake and 
 snow bunting. The snow in places was very deep, pre- 
 senting quite a wintry aspect. 
 
 Wednesday, 29///. — Last evening we got under weigh 
 from Hecla Cove, and made sail on our homeward 
 passage. The sun but just appeared above the horizon, 
 half obscured by a bank of dark clouds, the remainder of 
 the sky above very-clear and of a perfect azure blue. In 
 the afternoon we were off Wyde Bay, and at 8.30 p.m. 
 Red Beach. Here we hovc-to, and sent two boats on 
 shore to bring off the travelling-boat with her stores, left 
 there on our outward passage. I landed in one of the 
 boats, and found that Red Beach evidently took its name 
 from the colour of the old red-sandstone formation 
 occurring there. I brought off from the beach some of 
 the rolled, water-worn pebbles, banded red and white, 
 having a very remarkable and pretty appearance. Also 
 some mosses and other plants, and shot a kittiwake re- 
 turning on board. Wind easterly, with very clear, fine 
 weather. 
 
■mmpufm 
 
 ??«"■ 
 
 Red Beach, Spitzberj^cn. (Scy />. 414.) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Resume of the geological and botanical features of the island — An 
 arctic cemetery — Why the expedition fiiiled. 
 
 At Red Beach I for the last time set my foot on the 
 shores of Spitzbergen, and took a final farewell of that, 
 to me, remarkable and interesting island, after above two 
 months' sojourn, very pleasantly spent, with unusually 
 fine weather for such a latitude. My time had been 
 fully occupied in collecting specimens of birds, rocks, 
 and plants for the natural history collection, making 
 sketches of the land, shooting reindeer, and keeping the 
 watches, in addition to my ordinary professional duties. 
 
 Hecla Cove is a recess or curve on the eastern side of 
 Treurenberg Bay, between which and the finely-formed 
 symmetrical mountain, rising some 2000 feet above it, 
 extends a considerable level surface or plain of rich 
 alluvium, formed in a great measure from the decom- 
 position of the friable hornblende rock, which enters so 
 largely into the formation of the mountain, huge masses 
 of which have rolled down from its summit to a consider- 
 able distance from its base : ridges of massive quartz 
 of a fine pink colour, capable of taking a beautiful 
 polish when cut, and from which I had a desk seal engraved 
 with my own initials, which made as good an impression 
 on the wax as from any gem. This isolated, low ridge 
 
 
 f' 
 
4i6 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 O ,.' 
 
 of quartz crops out between the base of the mountain 
 and the cove. The rich plain of alluvium is covered 
 with a carpet of vegetation consisting of mosses, lichens, 
 grasses, and dwarf willows, interspersed with the various 
 arctic flowering plants in miniature, amongst which 
 the saxifrages and the poppy abound. Some fragments of 
 limestone and mica slate occur amongst the ddbris. 
 
 Treurenberg Bay in the Dutch language, I believe, 
 means, Bay of Sorrow, or Grief, and must formerly have 
 been much resorted to by Dutch whalers, who suffered 
 severely from that scourge of high latitudes, scurvy. 
 This is evident from the number of graves found here. 
 On one of my shooting excursions, on the west or oppo- 
 site side of the b;iy, I came all at once upon a perfect 
 cemetery, no less a number than thirty piles of stones, 
 each having human remains beneath, enclosed in frag- 
 ments of wood rudely put together. When this spot 
 first arrested my eye in the distance, I was quite at a 
 loss to conjecture what all this pile of broken oars, pro- 
 jecting above the surface on the north point at the 
 entrance to the bay meant, I exhumed a skull from 
 this primitive arctic mausoleum. It was bleached per- 
 fectly white, through the many winters' frosts and sum- 
 mers' thaws to which it had been exposed for the greater 
 part of a century. The head-board to this rude grave was 
 the blade of an oar, on which wvscut, with a sailor's knife, 
 the name of the ship, and that of the young seaman whose 
 fate it commemorates. The date was 1 738. I broaght this 
 oar-headboard on board with me, and subsequently gave 
 it to Captain Parry. The sun at midnight at our de- 
 parture, just dipped his lower limb beneath the horizon for 
 the first time for the last four months, rising again at once. 
 
 The climate of Spitzbergen (discovered by Barentz in 
 the year 1596), under the influence of the Gulf Stream, a 
 branch of which laves its shores, is greatly ameliorated, 
 as the heating-power of the warm oceanic currents is 
 
"^1 ;1 
 
 The Gzilf Stream. 
 
 417 
 
 very great. The Gulf Stream mainly originates in the 
 Gulf of Mexico, as it passes through the Florida Channel. 
 It has a temperature of some 65°, its mean temperature 
 being about 40°, and it gives to the south-westerly 
 winds their warmth and genial character. This stream 
 is estimated at about fifty miles in width, with a depth of 
 2000 feet, and a rate of some four miles an hour, of course 
 much influenced by the prevailing winds, which act 
 powerfully on all oceanic currents. Cold counter-currents 
 pass from the poles to the equator, along the bottom of 
 the ocean, and beneath the upper warmer currents. 
 The temperature of the deep-sea bottom is always little 
 above the freezing-point, dark and cold, from the poles 
 to the Equator. 
 
 There are said to be interior glaciers in Spitzbergen 
 from 2000 to 3000 feet in thickness, and that the land 
 is rising at the rate of six feet in a century. The fossil 
 remains of trees and plants found would indicate a tem- 
 perate, even, subtropical climate having once existed 
 here as in other parts of the Arctic regions. 
 
 That our expedition failed in its main object of reach- 
 ing the North Pole, owing to the wrong season of the 
 year having been selected for boating and sledge 
 operations, is clearly evident. The very early months 
 of spring afford the only chance of success. Yet there 
 certainly was, when we left Spitzbergen, so much open 
 water to the northward, that had we been prepared to 
 winter there, the ship herself 'vould have had a fair 
 chance, if not of reaching the pole itself, of attaining a 
 much higher latitude. 
 
 As the compass at the pole will cease to act, should 
 plants exist there (which there is no reason whatever 
 to doubt if land exists), their sleeping leaves at the mid- 
 night hour, when the sun is in the north, would point the 
 way, and therefore a true course could be steered by the 
 direction indicated by their leaves. 
 
 VOL, I. E e 
 
 i 
 
 
4i8 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 ft' 
 
 Thursday, 30//^ — We fell in with a considerable 
 quantity of sailing ice. Passed Cloven Cliff and 
 Smeerenberg Harbour, off which we had the hard gale 
 of wind on our first making the Spitzbergen coast, com- 
 pelling !'s ro take the pack. We rounded Hakluyt 
 he. dlaiiu, and entered upon the open sea, with a heavy 
 swell. Ihe land along this part of the coast is bold and 
 high, rising to 4000 feet, the summits of the mountains 
 sharply peaked and covered with snow. 
 
 Friday, 3 >.:t, — Land still in sight ; a few loose streams 
 of ice i.a -seu tiie ship this morning ; several fulmar 
 petrel folovln^ !n the wake of the ship, after the 
 manner of the Mother Cary's chickens or stormy 
 perrel. Haslcrly >>' •."; with moderate breezes, and 
 cloudy weathe. Via • iay saw several gulls and dove- 
 kies amongst the ire. 
 
 Saitirday, Septcjuber \st. — No land in sight, but an 
 open sea clear of ice. Strong breezes and cloudy weather, 
 with rain at intervals. Wind changing from fair to foul, 
 S.W. 
 
 Simday, 2nd. — Mustered at divisions, and the articles 
 of war read by Captain Parry. To-day we had roast 
 beef for dinner, fresh and excellent, not the least injured 
 by the time it has been kept under the maintop, although 
 we brought it from England with us — a striking proof 
 of the antiseptic powers of the Arctic climate. Having 
 had the sun constantly above the horizon for some months 
 past, it was quite a novelty to-night, being dark, to have 
 to light a candle to go to bed. 
 
 Monday, ^rd. — Blowing a westerly gale, with a heavy 
 sea running. At night the moon appeared bright through 
 some very dark clouds, half screening it from view, just 
 above the horizon. Saw a star, the first we have seen 
 for a long, long time past. 
 
 Ttiesday,^th. — The gale abated and nearly fell to a calm 
 wind, drawing round ahead, fulmars following the ship. 
 
At Anchor in Balta Sound, SlictUind. 
 
 419 
 
 Wednesday, ^th, — Arranged the Government collection 
 of birds. Hot-air stove lighted. 
 
 Thursday, 6ih, — Mustered at divisions ; and warm 
 clothing served out to every officer and man in the ship, 
 consisting of a box-cloth jacket and trousers, pair of large 
 waterproof boots, one pair of laced shoes, two pairs of 
 large hose, comforter, mittens, Welsh wig, Scotch cap, 
 and red guernsey frock. Hot-air stove still kept lighted. 
 Lat. 68° N. 
 
 Wednesday, \2th. — Crossed the Arctic Circle to-day. 
 Weather, as it has been for the last day or two, cloudy, 
 with fine rain at times, fresh south-westerly winds, and 
 yesterday there was a heavy sea running. A young 
 tern was caught on board this morning. Packed up the 
 Government collection of birds. 
 
 Saturday, i^f/i. — A flock of young kittiwakes, several 
 terns, and a boatswain bird, or arctic gull (Lestrt's para- 
 siticus), were flying round the ship ; and on the following 
 day a solan goose. 
 
 Monday, 1 jt/i. — Land in sight ; I went up to the fore- 
 topmast-head to have a look at it. Lambroness, bearing 
 S. 50 W. Saw several solan geese, and at six p.m. a 
 French galliot. Fresh westerly winds. 
 
 Juesday, iSt/i, ten a.m. — Fired a gun and hoisted a 
 signal for a pilot. At 1.30 p.m. let go the anchor in 
 Balta Sound, Isle of Unst, the northernmost of the Shet- 
 land Isles. We grounded for a few minutes in enterinir 
 the harbour. A number of boats with fowls, eggs, and 
 milk soon came off to us from the shore, which exhibited 
 little signs of cultivation, being for the most part pasture- 
 land, in which a number of cattle were feeding. The 
 hills rise in gently swelling slopes, over which a few 
 houses are sparsely scattered from the harbour, which 
 forms a fine, spacious, land-locked sound, but the water 
 shallow. Westerly winds, with squally weather and rain 
 at intervals. 
 
 E e 2 
 
 iWHiaillKUMItULj 
 
 ir/ 
 
420 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 % 
 
 Wednesday, iglh. — Weather much the same, but wind 
 northerly. Some ladies from the shore came on board to 
 see the ship this forenoon. At five p.m. weighed anchor 
 and made all sail from Unst. 
 
 Thursday, 20th. — Fine, clear weather, with a fresh 
 northerly breeze. Passed Fair Island. Last night an 
 order was issued by Captain Parry for all logs, journals, 
 and sketches kept during the voyage by the officers to 
 be taken into the cabin this evening on or before 
 eight p.m. 
 
 Saturday, 22nd. — The same contrary southerly wind 
 which compelled us to put into the Shetlands, now 
 obliged us to bear up for the Orkneys. In the evening 
 we had a faint display of the aurora borealis, shooting 
 upwards towards the zenith in faint rays. The night was 
 fine, with a luminous sea, displaying the most brilliant 
 aggregation of bright spots on the surface, both along the 
 sides and in the wake of the ship as she ploughed her 
 way through it. The Milky Way appeared very distinct, 
 and a meteor or two were seen, also a few feeble flashes 
 of lightning. 
 
 Sunday, 2T,rd. — Fired several guns, and hoisted the 
 signal for a pilot, running into Long Hope, where we 
 anchored at five p.m. There we found the Chichester 
 cutter, a whaler, and several small craft. 
 
 Monday, 2\th. — We got under weigh, and stood out 
 for the Pentland Firth, with light northerly winds, but 
 calms following, and the wind again coming from the 
 southward, we had to bear up for the anchorage in Long 
 Hope again, and at 7.30 p.m. came to an anchor. Captain 
 Parry decided to take passage in the Chichester revenue 
 cutter to Inverness, and from thence to proceed over- 
 land to London, accompanied by Mr. Beverley. They 
 left the ship at 8.30 p.m. A boat was sent to Kirkwall 
 for letters, and the boats employed watering ship. The 
 laird of the place and his lady came on board to see the 
 
 
 M 
 
 m 
 
At Anclioi- in Yannonth Roads. 421 
 
 ship. The Diligence revenue cutter arrived. I went 
 on shore here in the forenoon. 
 
 Saturday^ 29///.— At about six a.m. the wind suddenly 
 changing to the northward, we at once availed ourselves 
 of the favourable breeze, and making a signal for the 
 pilot, got under weigh at 9.30 a.m. This evening poor 
 old George Crawford, our ice-master, died. He had 
 been on the sick-list at intervals throughout mo.st of the 
 voyage, with a long-standing pulmonary affection, 
 asthma, and all its complications ; but having been in five 
 successive voyages to the Arctic regions with Captain 
 Parry, he, out of a kindly feeling to serve him, and 
 gratify the good old seaman's great desire to accompany 
 him in this his last voyage, acceded to his wishes, and 
 in any case, whether he had been at home or abroad, 
 his days were numbered. He left behind him a young 
 widow, and the painful feeling of passing away from this 
 world when so near his home and her, sadly disturbed the 
 resignation of the poor fellow's last moments. 
 
 Monday, October ist. — A variety of birds have been 
 flying round the ship all day— hawks, owls, larks, chaf- 
 finches, &c. Three hawks, an owl, and a starling were 
 shot; and a sandpiper, which alighted on the ship's 
 side, was caught by those on board ; we were at the time 
 off the Firth of Forth, but not within sight of the land. 
 
 Friday, 5//?.— Saw an owl and several smaller birds, 
 
 chaffinches, a thrush, and a robin redbreast, about the ship. 
 
 Wednesday, 2,rd. — At eleven a.m. Flamborough Head 
 
 made its appearance through the haze, and we hoisted a 
 
 signal for a pilot, firing several guns at the same time. 
 
 Thursday, 4M.— At 6.30 p.m. anchored in Yarmouth 
 Roads. About 7.30 p.m. I went on shore, and set off 
 immediately for Southtown, to see my mother and sisters, 
 at the time residing there, and having passed a brief 
 space of time with them, returned to Yarmouth about 
 midnight, and from thence on board. 
 
 I' 
 
422 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 Friday, $//i. — Weij,rhccl unchor, and made sail at 
 5.30 a.m. Worked through the New Gat with a moderate 
 breeze and fine, clear weather, running along the land. 
 At nine p.m. we anchored in the Swin. Saw the Harwich 
 and Sunk lights in passing. 
 
 Saturday, 6th. — At five a.m. weighed ; at eleven a.m. 
 passed Sheerness, and made our number to H.M.S. 
 Gloucester. Arrived at Northfleet at three p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, 10///. — Light southerly winds, with rain. 
 Received orders to proceed to Deptford to be paid off; 
 got under weigh, and as we passed Woolwich returned the 
 cheers of a man-of-war fitting out there. At four p.m. 
 made fast to the Heroine hulk at Deptford. Whilst 
 paying off we had the honour of a visit from the Lord 
 High Admiral, his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, 
 attended by Sir George Cockburn and Colonel Fitz- 
 Clarence. All the officers were individually introduced 
 to the Lord High Admiral by Captain Parry. 
 
 Thursday, November \ St. — T\ig. Hecla was paid off at 
 Deptford. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 LIST OF REINDEER 
 
 Shot in lyeurenberir Bay, Spilzl>ergen, by the officers and crav of 
 H.M.S. Hecla /// the year 1827. 
 
 Lieutenant Crozier . 
 Purser Hulse . . . , 
 Assistant-Surgeon McCorniick . 
 Mate Foote • . . . 
 Messrs. McCormick and Foote . 
 Gunner Brothers 
 Boatswain Smith 
 Carpenter Fiddes 
 
 Number. 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 22 
 20 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 Shii)'s Company 
 
 56 
 »3 
 
 Total 
 
 69 
 
423 
 
 PLANS FOR REACHING 
 
 THE 
 
 NORTH AND SOUTH POLES. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 After a long life devoted to Polar Discovery, both north 
 and south, as mine has been, it may naturally enough 
 be expected from me, that I should refer to the present 
 renewed interest in Arctic research, occasioned by the 
 recent spirited, though unhappily disastrous private ex- 
 peditions to Franz Josef's Land, sent out by Austria 
 and America, and so lately by our own countrymen. I 
 therefore offer, as a sequel to the foregoing pages, my 
 own opinion of the probability of reaching either pole, 
 and the plans from past experience I would adopt for 
 the attainment of so desirable a result. 
 
 PLAN FOR REACHING THE NORTH POLE. 
 The North Pole being undoubtedly the most acces- 
 sible of the two poles, I shall begin with it, and briefly 
 review the avenues of approach to it, with the attempts 
 made both by our own country and others, and the cause 
 of their failures originating in the meridian selected for 
 each attempt. 
 
 Anterior to my employment in the Franklin search, I 
 had entertained more favourable views of the approach 
 to the pole through Smith's Sound than subsequent 
 experience justified ; and before the American expeditions 
 of search under Kane and Hayes, I had in my plans laid 
 before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, called 
 
424 
 
 t'ojat^vs of Discoi'cry, 
 
 
 ; ill 
 
 the attention of their lordships to the fact of the stronjj; 
 currents and heavy swell setting out of Smith's Sound, 
 from which I drew the inference that the so-called 
 sound was really an opening into the Polar Ocean ; and 
 as I had always been impressed with the belief that 
 Franklin would attempt the Wellington Channel, he 
 might possibly, if beset in the polar pack, be compelled 
 to make a retrograde movement. Consequently I held 
 that Smith's Sound should not be omitted in the search, 
 and long before even the American expedition was con- 
 templated, I had offered to explore it together with 
 Jones Sound and the Wellington Channel into the Polar 
 Ocean. 
 
 Subsequent events have not only confirmed the sound- 
 ness of the views I then held, but, what is of far more 
 importance, the discovery of the opening of Smith's 
 Sound into the Polar Ocean, now claimed for the star- 
 spangled flag, might well have been our own, had my 
 offer at the time been accepted by the Admiralty. 
 
 Be this as it may, the very intricate nature of the 
 tortuous, long, ice-encumbered channel, so beset with 
 insuperable difficulties, as the Americans found it — in 
 Kane's case terminating in a disastrous retreat from their 
 ship in boats, and in Hall's a still narrower escape on 
 the drifting floe — convinced me that 1 could no longer 
 entertain the faintest hope that the pole would ever be 
 reached by the Smith's Channel route. This was before 
 the attempt made by Sir George Nares, who found, as 
 I had anticipated, after the Alert had struggled through 
 the drifting packs which are disgorged into Baffin's Bay 
 from the Polar Ocean, through the intricate navigation 
 of this narrow, irregular, rocky strait, that no secure har- 
 bour was available at its emboiicliure as a point-d' appui 
 for the security of the ships, but only a barren, exposed 
 shore, on which the enormous, hummocky, heavy, polar 
 pack rested, barring all progress north either of ship, 
 boat, or sledge. 
 
Phxu for rcachino the Norllt Pole. 
 
 425 
 
 
 Now, this vast pack of ice, resting' as it does on the 
 whole hnc! of coast — eastward from the north coast of 
 Greenland continuously, to the enibouclittre cf the Wel- 
 lington Channel, and from thence to H(;hrin<j^'s Strait — 
 oscillates backwards and forwards from the shore, under 
 the influence of winds and currents, especially durinsj^ the 
 summer season of these regions, when offsets separate 
 and make their way through the openings of Smith's 
 Channel, Wellington Channel, and Hehring's Strait, thus 
 preventing any undue accumulation of ice within the 
 polar area, and by this compensation maintaining an 
 equilibrium. The position of this polar pack, skirting as 
 it does the whole sea-board, negatives any attempt to 
 reach the pole either by way of Smith's or Wellington 
 Channel, or Behrlng's Strait ; and I am further disposed 
 to think that the route at present mooted by way of 
 Franz Josefs Land deserves no more consideration, 
 judging from the unsuccessful results of the recent 
 Austrian, American, and English private expeditions to 
 that quarter, in which each of the ship of the rc;spective 
 expeditions were crushed in the heavy packs of ice con- 
 centrated in the vicinity of Franz Josef's Land, owing to 
 the peculiar relative position of Spitzbergen and the 
 latter land, resulting in the accumulation of pent-up heavy 
 floes clinging to its shores or drifting about the seas 
 adjacent. 
 
 The abundance of animal life met with on the shores 
 of Franz Josef's Land, and assigned as one reason for 
 making that land a base for operations, is, I believe, in 
 no way owing to the land being more productive or 
 better suited for the support of the animal creation than 
 is Spitzbergen, but simply because it has not been, 
 until recently, trodden by the foot of man, whose de- 
 structive influence would soon thin the numbers of the 
 animals, as doubtless it has done in Spitzbergen since my 
 sojourn on its shores, when engaged in Parry's attempt 
 to reach the pole, more than half a century ago, when 
 
426 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 reindeer and wild fowl abounded there amply sufficient 
 for our wants. 
 
 Spitzbergen should be the base of operations in any 
 future attempt to reach the North Pole. Parry's failure 
 was wholly and entirely owing to the wrong season of 
 the year having been selected for boating and sledging 
 over polar ice. The plan which I have had under con- 
 sideration for years past, I now lay before my readers. 
 
 1+ -1 
 
 PLAN FOR REACHING THE NORTH POLE BY THE 
 SPITZBERGEN SEA. 
 
 On the return of Captain Sir George Nares's Expedi- 
 tion, after his attempt to reach the pole by Smith's 
 Channel, I had occasion to address a letter on service 
 to the late Mr. Ward Hunt, dated in 1876, at the time 
 he was First Lord of the Admiralty, in which I em- 
 phatically called attention to the Spitzbergen Sea as t/ie 
 route to the pole. 
 
 Whilst on this subject I cannot refrain from expressing 
 the gratification I felt in having my name associated with 
 my worthy old chief's, the late Admiral Sir Edward 
 Parry, both by Sir George Nares, who has named a 
 valley after me, on the north-west coast of Greenland, 
 and my old friend, Vice-Admiral Sir Leopold McClin- 
 tock, who in like manner has attached my name to an 
 inlet in Melville Island, and to both those distinguished 
 officers I here record my best thanks for the compliment 
 paid me. 
 
 That the North Pole will be reached, though possibly 
 not in my time, yet before the close of the present cen- 
 tury, I feel as sure as I do that the unfurling a flag at 
 the Arctic or the Antarctic Pole will stand second to 
 none as a brilliant geographical problem solved ; not the 
 discovery even by Columbus of a New World ; akhough 
 its subsequent utility may be of no moment when com- 
 pared with that of a fourth quarter of the globe opened 
 to our race. 
 
 
Oxvji Plan by the Spifzbcr^cu Sea. 437 
 
 The Spitzbcrgcn Sea, as far as our experience has 
 .Qone, offers not only by far the best, but, as I believe, the 
 only practicable approach to the pole. The Polar Ocean 
 between Spitzbcrgen and the pole is undoubtedly more 
 open to navigation at certain seasons than on any other 
 meridian of the entire polar area. The current settintr 
 to the southwards, as we found it, transferring immense 
 floes and fields of ice from the vicinity of the pole, to 
 be broken up into the huge hummocky packs by the 
 winds and currents as they approach the land, must 
 necessarily leave in their wake corresponding open spaces 
 of water in the north. The inference to be drawn from 
 this is that there is no land sufficient to interfere with 
 the navigation either for ships or boats ; at most, pro- 
 bably, small groups or archipelagos of islets similar to 
 the Seven Sisters off Spitzbergen. The warmer tem- 
 perature of the Gulf Stream, a branch of which flows 
 northwards, doubtless has the effect of breaking up the 
 ice here, and, as a result, leaving much open water at 
 intervals, and when combined with a continuance of 
 strong northerly gales acting with powerful currents 
 seasons may occur in which I can readily conceive a small 
 handy steam-vessel, starting from the shores of Spitz- 
 bergen. at a favourable crisis, might reach the pole itself, 
 or at all events make a very near approach to it, and be 
 back in one season. 
 
 Should the steamer be unsuccessful the first season I 
 would make Treurenh-rg Bay my winter quarters, and 
 :r.oor the steamer in Hecla Cove, Spitzbergen, a small 
 curve on the port side as you enter the bay, at the base 
 of a picturesque mountain, and early in the ensuing spring 
 say the last week in the month of February, before the 
 temperature began to rise so as to affect the ice-floes 
 the pole might be reached by sledging over the vast 
 ice-fields, which at a distance from the land would'in 
 all probability present a smoother surface for drao-rrintr 
 the sledge over than the broken-up, hummocky condkion 
 
1.^ 
 
 ft '''i 
 
 
 ||||r' 
 
 Im ,,, 
 
 PI 
 
 flif 
 
 1 1-^ 
 
 ^! 
 
 1 1! 
 
 ( 
 
 f .-' 
 
 1 i| :!■; 
 
 ill 
 
 428 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 of the coast-line floes. If the season proved favourable, 
 with moderately calm weather and a respite from heavy 
 northerly gales, the enterprise might be accomplished of 
 reaching the pole and returning to the ship in the space 
 of three months, that is to say by the end of April, A 
 boat, of course, should accompany the sledging party, 
 and Esquimaux dogs be employed for drawing the sledge. 
 
 The outfit for such an expedition should be compact 
 and complete — a small vessel drawing little water, well 
 strengthened by doubling, especiaMy the bows, of from 150 
 to 200 tons, propelled by a powerful engine ; a brigan- 
 tine being the most handy rig for manoeuvring amongst 
 ice. Such a vessel is more buoyant and less likely to get 
 nipped between contending floes, from the tendency of 
 the hull, having a well-proportioned keel, to rise above 
 the pressure to the upper surface of the ice, her small 
 draught of water enabling her to navigate with greater 
 security the shallow bays and straits, and in any damage 
 to her hull can be hove down with greater facility by a 
 small crew, which should consist of twenty able seamen, 
 and three mates for the charge of the watches ; and, from 
 their experience amongst ice, volunteers from the whale 
 fishery would be most desirable in every way for a service 
 like this. 
 
 The vessel should be provisioned for two years, with 
 a supply of coals for that period, and as a safeguard 
 against unforeseen accidents, it would be very desirable 
 to take out the framework of a house, capable of housing 
 the whole party throughout the winter, in the event of 
 any disaster happening to the steamer, which could be 
 put up on the spot selected for the base of operations in 
 Spitzbergen. 
 
 All kinds of salted provisions should be rigidly ex- 
 cluded from the dietary composing the outfit, which should 
 mainly consist of preserved meats, poultry, and vege- 
 tables, with those excellent farinaceous articles of diet, 
 macaroni, rice, and arrowroot ; and that best of all anti- 
 
Class of Vessel for the Enterprise. 
 
 429 
 
 scorbutics, the cranberry, with an unlimited supply of 
 lime juice — our sheet-anchor in cases of scurvy ; malt 
 liquors of sound and good quality will be found valuable 
 resources to " splice the mainbrace " with. After any ex- 
 traordinary exertions and fatigue under cold and privation, 
 good old Cognac brandy is the best and only stimulant 
 needed : in cases of extreme exhaustion and prostra- 
 tion, arising from exposure to intense cold and privation, 
 we have nothing in the whole " Materia Medica " to 
 equal it as a prompt restorative of lowered nerve-power, 
 and where the state of the general health needs some 
 stimulant, it is a much safer one, judiciously taken, than 
 any of the ordinary wines of the present day, and all other 
 forms of alcohol are unnecessary luxuries, far from being 
 conducive to health or comfort. Well-preserved fresh 
 fruits are generally as beneficial as all kinds of dried 
 ones are injurious and prejudicial. During the long Arctic 
 night, when from want of proper exercise and a monoto- 
 nous mode of life the appetite fails, the nights disposed to 
 sleeplessness, a glass of quinine wine twice a day is often 
 beneficial ; in the proportion of about ten grains of 
 quinine dissolved in twenty grains of citric acid, and added 
 to a bottle of Marsala. 
 
 I should consider twelve men a sufficient crew for the 
 sledge and boat, with the aid of about a dozen good 
 Esquimaux dogs ; two of the mates as officers for sledge 
 and boat, and the third mate, with the remaining eight 
 men, to be left in charge of the vessel and house at Spitz- 
 bergen, to shoot reindeer and eider duck, and other wilil 
 fowl, as a supply for the ensuing winter, during the ab- 
 sence of the polar party. A whale-boat of sufficient size 
 to hold the party, or perhaps two smaller boats and two 
 sledges might be found more manageable by a small crew. 
 The size of the fore-and-aft vessel I have proposed may 
 by some be considered small for such an undertaking ; 
 but old Baffin in the Discovery, of only fifty tons, circum- 
 navigated the bay which bears his name, and accomplished 
 
 ! 
 
430 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 more in one season than more ostentatious expeditions 
 have since done in many. In short, I would myself 
 prefer a vessel of loo tons to any other, as there would 
 be fewer to feed. 
 
 I! t 
 
 PLAN FOR AN ATTEMPT TO REACH THE SOUTH POLE. 
 
 An enterprise far more difficult to encounter in all its 
 bearings than the one to the opposite hemisphere, a. 
 climate vastly more severe, a navigation infinitely more 
 intricate and dangerous in character, and removed so 
 far from any base of operations ; with no known har- 
 bour for the security of the ships as winter quarters. 
 
 As the seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemi- 
 sphere, the months for exploration will be December, 
 January, February, and March ; therefore the ships 
 should take their departure from England about mid- 
 summer, and for this service there must be two ships 
 of much larger dimensions, and in every way on a 
 more extensive scale of equipment, than is needed fof 
 the north. They must be provisioned for three years, 
 and well equipped with whale-boats, each ship having 
 powerful engines. 
 
 The provisions and stores of a similar kind as already 
 described for the North Polar outfit, only on a larger 
 scale, and both the ships and equipment needing all the 
 resources that can only be supplied from a Government 
 dockyard. Therefore an expedition fitted out by the 
 Admiralty would afford the best guarantee for success. 
 Two frigate-built ships of about looo tons each, bark- 
 rigged, and well strengthened by stout doubling, with 
 crews numbering lOO in each, picked seamen, and officers 
 selected for their scientific attainments and zeal in this 
 branch of the service, form desiderata of great importance. 
 Astronomy, Geology, Zoology, and Botany, should each 
 have its representative, and an artist skilled in the de- 
 lineation of scenery, birds, and animal life generally, and 
 the portraiture of savages. Large guns for firing signals. 
 
Plan for an Attempt to reach the South Pole. 431 
 
 ang 
 
 to prevent the separation of the ships amid the dense 
 fogs of the Antarctic Seas. 
 
 I would recommend the meridian of Tasmania, but east- 
 ward of the track the Erebus and Terror followed, so as to 
 attain that point of the Barrier where our own progress was 
 finally arrested, and to follow it up, or whatever coast-line 
 might turn up, and to explore every opening in the pack, 
 barrier, or coast-line, holding out any chance of approach- 
 ing the pole. On the passage out to Tasmania, if run 
 short of coals for the engines, they may be replenished at 
 Kerguelen's Land, as I have elsewhere stated in my 
 account of that island, and only at the expense of a trifling 
 dJtour to the southward for that purpose. 
 
 The ships, after refitting in the Derwent, and com- 
 pleting supplies at Hobart Town, might commence their 
 voyage south in the month of November, and, if unsuc- 
 cessful the first season, might bear up for Cape Horn 
 and winter, and refit at the Falkland Islands, and in the 
 ensuing summer try the track of Weddell ; and lastly, fail- 
 ing on that meridian, try the one from the Cape of Good 
 Hope, wintering and refitting there. 
 
 We know so little at present of the navigation of the 
 Antarctic Ocean, that it would be presumption to point out 
 any one particular course as preferable to another. Much 
 must depend upon the movements of those vast packs of 
 ice drifting around the polar area, at the mercy of the 
 prevailing winds and currents, leaving temporary open- 
 ings in the direction of the continent or the pole ; and 
 it is only by patiently circumnavigating that area during 
 the season, and trying every promising opening, whilst 
 tracing the circumference of the pack, that any successful 
 advance in the direction of the pole can be hoped for. 
 Carefully avoiding, by close attention to the direction of 
 the winds and currents, that the ships are not caught and 
 beset in the centre of one of these enormous packs, and 
 the season be thus sacrificed, as was our experience in the 
 Erebus and Terror for some six weeks. 
 
432 
 
 Voyages of Discovery. 
 
 if' 
 
 in 
 
 As no one has yet wintered in the Antarctic regions, 
 it would in the interests of science be most desirable to 
 do so, couH a harbour be discovered ; but therein lies 
 the difficulty. All the breaks and openings along the 
 whole line of coast are sealed up with the eternal ice and 
 glaciers, literally a wall of ice extending along the whole 
 seaboard — as far as our own examination of this vast 
 continent went. 
 
 Yet, had I the command of an expedition in those 
 seas, ! would strain every effort to secure some well- 
 protected nook, beyond the inroad and pressure of the 
 packs in the coast-line of the Gulf of Erebus and Terror 
 or Macmurdo Bay, for winter quarters. 
 
 From this spot what a sublime object of interest and 
 awe must the burning volcanic Mount Erebus present 
 throughout the long, dark winter's night, with its sur- 
 roundings of everlasting ice and glaciers, emitting its 
 dense smoke and flame, and possibly at intervals grand 
 eruptions. What a glorious spectacle of its great 
 Creator's work would it present ; a field for thought 
 and observation ! What with magnetism, and the op- 
 portunity of studying the Antarctic winter's sky, it 
 would amply repay the outlay of such a voyage of dis- 
 covery as I have endeavoured to call attention to ; and 
 even if the main object failed of planting our flag on 
 the pole, a nearer approach than hitherto, I think, at 
 the least would be made. 
 
 Whales, seals, penguins large and small, and a variety 
 of sea fowl abound on the ocean ; but there is no vege- 
 tation, not even seiweed on the shores. The wandering 
 albatross does not extend its flight so far. But I met 
 with the stormy petrel at the Great Barrier, as I did in 
 the north in the Wellington Channel. 
 
 il-'i 
 
 END OF VOL I. 
 
 GILBERT AND RIVINCION, LIMITBU, ST. JOHN S SQUAKK, LONDON. 
 
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